Professor Can Seek Damages after Refusing to Use a Student’s Preferred Pronouns
The Sixth Circuit Court has ruled that a professor at the Shawnee State University can not be compelled to call students by their preferred pronouns. The decision comes after professor Nicholas Meriwether had a back and forth with university officials regarding a student who was referred to only as “Doe'' in the complaint.
Meriwether, who has taught at the public university since 1996, received a schoolwide email that explained to faculty and staff that they were to call students by their preferred pronouns. Meriwether had raised concerns as the policy conflicted with his Christian belief that gender was based on biology and was determined at conception. In the email, faculty and staff were alerted that there would be disciplinary action if they “refused to use a pronoun that reflects a student’s self-asserted gender identity.”
The incident stems from 2018 in which a student in Meriwether’s class, Doe, who is described as appearing to be male, was misgendered by Meriwether when Meriwether called her “Sir” during a class discussion. After the incident, Doe went to school officials to voice her complaint about what she described as a "hostile environment."
After a back and forth with officials regarding how to satisfy both parties without violating the school's nondiscrimination policy, Meriwether was informed that the school's College of Arts and Science Dean, Roberta Milliken, was going to bring forth “formal charges” against Meriwether. According to the complaint, Dean Milliken explained that the formal charge was “Because Dr. Meriwether repeatedly refused to change the way he addressed [Doe] in his class due to his views on transgender people, and because the way he treated [Doe] was deliberately different than the way he treated others in the class...he effectively created a hostile environment for [Doe].” As part of the charge, a formal warning went in Meriwether’s file. A grievance was soon filed on the professor's behalf by the Shawnee State faculty union asking in part for the disciplinary action against Meriwether to be vacated.
After arguments were heard on the case, U.S. Circuit Judge Amul Thapar ruled in favor of the professor. Judge Thapar wrote in his opinion, “Simply put, professors at public universities retain First Amendment protections at least when engaged in core academic functions, such as teaching and scholarship.”
Thapar added in his decision that the professor’s First Amendment rights were violated and that loosening these First Amendment protections on university professors would “wield alarming power to compel ideological conformity.” Thapar gives the example that “A university president could require a pacifist to declare that war is just, a civil rights icon to condemn the Freedom Riders, a believer to deny the existence of God, or a Soviet emigre to address his students as ‘comrades.’ That cannot be.”
John Bursch, Meriwether’s attorney, said in a statement after the ruling, “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. We are very pleased that the 6th Circuit affirmed the constitutional right of public university professors to speak and lead discussions, even on hotly contested issues. The freedoms of speech and religion must be vigorously protected if universities are to remain places where ideas can be debated and learning can take place.”
The opinion of the court has now opened the door for Meriwether to continue with a lawsuit against the University for damages.
