A public university in Ohio will pay $ 400,000 in compensation and attorney’s fees to a lecturer who was punished, he said, for refusing a student’s request to be addressed in a female language.
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The Fox News website reported that Philosophy Lecturer Nick Mariweather of Shawn State University answered a 2018 student question in a course in political philosophy with the answer “yes, sir.”
After completing the lesson, the student introduced himself to the lecturer as a transgender and demanded that in the future he address her in female language. Maryweather, however, refused to do so, claiming it would violate his faith as a devout Christian. According to documents submitted to the court, the student reacted aggressively to the lecturer’s refusal and threatened to dismiss him. She filed a complaint with the university administration, which cracked down on the investigation and determined that Mariweather “created a hostile atmosphere” for the student. The university also added a warning to Mariweather’s personal file, stating that further action would be taken if similar incidents occurred later.
In response, Mariweather filed a lawsuit against the university alleging that he violated “his right to freedom of religion under the First Amendment to the Constitution.” The lawsuit was dismissed in a lower court but in March last year the Court of Appeals sided with Riveather and allowed him to continue the lawsuit.
The Alliance Defending Freedom organization that represented him in the lawsuit announced last week that they had reached an agreement with the university under which it would pay the lecturer $ 400,000 in compensation and to cover attorneys’ expenses.
The university has also pledged to cancel the warning in the personal file. “Dr. Mariweather rightly defended his freedom to speak and remain silent and not to align with the University’s demand for mental unity,” Tyson Langhoffer, the senior lawyer representing Mariweather, responded. “We commend the University for ultimately “She agreed to do the right thing, and kept the reason for her existence as an open market of ideas.”