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A public university in southern Ohio has agreed to pay a professor $400,000 after it disciplined him four years ago for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns, according to Shawnee State University and a news release from the professor’s attorney.
The settlement means the philosophy professor, Nicholas Meriwether, will not be required to use certain pronouns regardless of a student’s request, his attorney’s release states.
The ruling comes as schools across the nation grapple with balancing the inclusivity of transgender students and the religious beliefs of some teachers.
Meriwether sued in 2018 after he was disciplined, and a federal district court dismissed the suit for lack of standing. Then, last year a three-judge appellate panel revived the lawsuit and sent it back to the lower court, where Meriwether could have argued his First Amendment rights of free speech and religion and his 14th Amendment right to due process were violated.
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/us/ohio-professor-transgender-lawsuit-settlement/index.html