RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 21a0071p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ┐ NICHOLAS K. MERIWETHER, │ Plaintiff-Appellant, │ │ v. > No. 20-3289 │ │ FRANCESCA HARTOP, JOSEPH WATSON, SCOTT │ WILLIAMS, DAVID FURBEE, SONDRA HASH, ROBERT │ HOWARTH, GEORGE WHITE, and WALLACE EDWARDS, │ Trustees of Shawnee State University, in their official │ capacities; JEFFREY A. BAUER, ROBERTA MILLIKEN, │ JENNIFER PAULEY, TENA PIERCE, DOUGLAS │ SHOEMAKER, and MALONDA JOHNSON, in their official │ capacities, │ Defendants-Appellees, │ │ │ JANE DOE; SEXUALITY AND GENDER ACCEPTANCE, │ Intervenors-Appellees. │ ┘ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati. No. 1:18-cv-00753—Susan J. Dlott, District Judge. Argued: November 19, 2020 Decided and Filed: March 26, 2021 Before: McKEAGUE, THAPAR, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: John J. Bursch, ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Paul R. Kerridge, KEATING MUETHING & KLEKAMP PLL, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Shawnee State Appellees. Adam G. Unikowsky, JENNER & BLOCK LLP, Washington, D.C., for Intervenor Appellees. ON BRIEF: John J. Bursch, Kristen K. Waggoner, ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM, Washington, D.C., David A. Cortman, Travis C. Barham, No. 20-3289 Meriwether v. Hartop, et al. Page 2 ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM, Lawrenceville, Georgia, Thomas W. Kidd, Jr., KIDD & URLING, LLC, West Chester, Ohio, Tyson C. Langhofer, ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM, Ashburn, Virginia, for Appellant. Paul R. Kerridge, KEATING MUETHING & KLEKAMP PLL, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Shawnee State Appellees. Adam G. Unikowsky, JENNER & BLOCK LLP, Washington, D.C., Jennifer L. Branch, GERHARDSTEIN & BRANCH CO. LPA, Cincinnati, Ohio, Shannon P. Minter, Asaf Orr, Christopher F. Stoll, NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS, San Francisco, California, for Intervenor Appellees. Deborah A. Ausburn, TAYLOR ENGLISH DUMA LLP, Atlanta, Georgia, Christopher L. Thacker, BILLINGS LAW FIRM, PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky, Gary S. McCaleb, Flagstaff, Arizona, Matthew J. Burkhart, GALLAGHER KAVINSKY & BURKHART LPA, Columbus, Ohio, Jennifer C. Chavez, Washington, D.C., Randall L. Wenger, INDEPENDENCE LAW CENTER, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Gerard V. Bradley, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, Notre Dame, Indiana, for Amici Curiae. _________________ OPINION _________________ THAPAR, Circuit Judge. Traditionally, American universities have been beacons of intellectual diversity and academic freedom. They have prided themselves on being forums where controversial ideas are discussed and debated. And they have tried not to stifle debate by picking sides. But Shawnee State chose a different route: It punished a professor for his speech on a hotly contested issue. And it did so despite the constitutional protections afforded by the First Amendment. The district court dismissed the professor’s free-speech and free-exercise claims. We see things differently and reverse. I. The district court decided this case on a motion to dismiss, so we construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. That means we must accept the complaint’s factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in Meriwether’s favor. Handy-Clay v. City of Memphis, 695 F.3d 531, 538 (6th Cir. 2012). Under this standard, we must reverse the district court’s dismissal …
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