University reaches $400,000 settlement with professor disciplined over trans student’s pronouns

A public university in Ohio has agreed to pay a professor $400,000 after he sued over a dispute involving a trans student’s pronouns.

Dr Nicholas Meriwether, a philosophy professor at Shawnee State University, sued the school in 2018 after he said it unfairly punished him for refusing to use the student’s preferred pronouns. Four years later, his lawyers say the school has rescinded that punishment.

“This case forced us to defend what used to be a common belief – that nobody should be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep their job,” attorney Travis Barham said in a statement. “We’re pleased to see the university recognize that the First Amendment guarantees Dr Meriwether – and every other American – the right to speak and act in a manner consistent with one’s faith and convictions.”

In his lawsuit, Dr Meriwether says that in 2018 he was accosted by a student who objected to being called “sir,” demanding to be referred to with feminine pronouns. Dr Meriwether declined, saying this went against his Christian beliefs, but offered to simply address the student by name.

That was not enough for the student – or for the university, which sent Dr Meriwether a written warning about his behavior.

The professor then sued, hiring lawyers from the non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom. A federal district court dismissed the suit, but in 2021 an appellate court revived it, giving Dr Meriwether and his lawyers a chance to argue his First Amendment rights had been violated.

Rather than fight the case in court, Shawnee State University chose to settle.

“After four years of litigation, Shawnee State University made an economic decision to settle the Meriwether case,” the school said in a statement. “Though we have decided to settle, we adamantly deny that anyone at Shawnee State deprived Dr Meriwether of his free speech rights or his rights to freely exercise his religion.”

The school also defended its original decision to reprimand Dr Meriwether, saying its intention was to protect students from “bigotry and discrimination.” After four years of legal battles, however, defending that decision had become too expensive.

“Over the course of this lawsuit, it became clear that the case was being used to advance divisive social and political agendas at a cost to the university and its students,” the university said. “That cost is better spent on fulfilling Shawnee State’s mission of service to our students, families and community.”