American professor files lawsuit against workplace after opposing gender policy
Nicholas Meriweather refused to refer to a trans student by her chosen pronouns
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
An American university professor is suing his workplace after he refused to refer to students by their preferred pronouns.
Nicholas Meriweather, a philosophy professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio, refused to refer to a trans student by her chosen pronouns, according to The Washington Times.
Alena Bruening filed a complaint against the university earlier this year after Merriweather refused to call her ‘miss’ or ‘she’ and instead offered to call her by her first name.
Following her complaint, the university warned Meriweather against opposing their gender policy but now the evangelical Christian academic has filed a lawsuit against the university arguing the policy violates his First Amendment rights.
Meriweather is part of the conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and their lawsuit reads: “They demand this even though the concept of gender identity is entirely subjective and fluid, even though the number of potential gender identities is infinite.”
The university confirmed they are reviewing the lawsuit and told The Washington Times: “We value freedom of expression by students, faculty, staff and visitors on our campus – and provide an educational and work environment that is free from discrimination, retaliation and harassment.”