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| Professor can't be punished for not using transgender student's pronouns, appeals court rules |
| 2021-03-28 |
| [JUSTTHENEWS] Apublic university violated a professor's constitutional rights by punishing him for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.In a unanimous opinion written by Judge Amul Thapar, a Supreme Court short-lister for former President Trump, the court compared the Ohio university's behavior to a "McCarthy era" law against "subversive" Philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether, a "devout Christian," sought an accommodation under which he would not have to address the student as a woman in classroom discussions, which often touched on gender identity as a cultural controversy. Shawnee State University officials belatedly ordered Meriwether to stop addressing the student only by name and instead use female pronouns. They also shot down his offer to tell students in the syllabus that he was being forced to use preferred pronouns. Provost Jeffrey Bauer "openly laughed" when Meriwether's union representative explained why his religious beliefs forbade him from using the student's preferred pronouns, the professor claimed. Bauer twice rejected the faculty grievance on Meriwether's behalf — first as provost and then as interim president of the university. Oral argument didn't go well for Shawnee State last fall. Judge Thapar asked then if the university would force a Jewish professor to honor a student's request to be addressed as "My Fuhrer." The court was particularly critical of the school's shifting explanation for threatening to fire Meriwether if he again failed to address the student as a woman. Shawnee State first claimed the professor was creating a "hostile educational environment," despite the fact that the student continued to excel academically. The university switched the charge to "disparate impact" after the faculty grievance, and then switched back to "hostile environment" during oral argument before the court. "These repeated changes in position, along with the alleged religious hostility, permit a plausible inference that the university was not applying a preexisting policy in a neutral way, but was instead using an evolving policy as pretext for targeting Meriwether's beliefs," the opinion said, reinstating Meriwether's lawsuit. "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," said John Bursch, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the professor. Shawnee State told Just the News it was "not issuing a statement at this time" and "not commenting on pending litigation." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Would like the professor to win all rounds in court, and turn around and sue the college for every penny they have, endowments and all. |
| Posted by: Unusomp Thrinese9406 2021-03-28 05:25 |