At odds with SUU officials regarding students’ preferred pronouns, longtime professor files lawsuit

Southern Utah University campus, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 31, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — A Southern Utah University theater professor who claims he faced disciplinary action for not using a nonbinary student’s preferred pronouns has filed a civil rights lawsuit against university administrators.

Sign on Southern Utah University campus, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 31, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

According to the suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, tenured professor Richard Bugg claims his freedom of speech rights were violated when he was told he was required to use a theater student’s preferred pronouns during an acting class he taught at SUU starting in September 2021.

Bugg, whose teaching career at SUU spans more than three decades, is a well-known name in the Cedar City theater scene as the founder and executive producer of Neil Simon Festival, now known as SimonFest Theatre Company. 

“This case involves a clash between the First Amendment free speech rights of a university professor and the power of a state university to compel that professor to engage in what the professor considers politically sensitive speech to which the professor is politically and educationally opposed,” states the opening introduction of Bugg’s 24-page complaint, which includes another 59 pages of attached exhibits.

“Here, a college student who identifies as ‘non-binary,’ i.e., neither male nor female, demanded that a professor address the student by plural pronouns such as ‘they’ and ‘them,’” the lawsuit’s introduction further states. “The demand was made pursuant to a University policy which, as interpreted by school officials, requires professors to address students by whatever personal pronouns the student insists upon, including not only plural pronouns, but also, on demand, a seemingly endless array of newly-invented pronouns such as, e.g., Zie, Sie, Ey, Ve, Tey and E, to name but a few.”

The document further claims that Bugg “willingly agreed to refrain from using any gender-based pronouns to address that student, and affirmatively offered to address that student either by the student’s name or by the traditional singular pronouns of the student’s choice.”

“(Bugg’s) refusal to acquiesce in the student’s demands resulted in an order that any future refusal to acquiesce in those demands would result in severe discipline including the professor’s dismissal, among other possible sanctions,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, the term “non-binary” can be used arbitrarily by anyone who chooses to identify themselves as such. 

“Unlike biological sex, the decision whether one identifies their gender as non-binary can change, and can even change frequently, over the course of one’s life,” the lawsuit states. “Perhaps surprisingly, an announced desire to be referred to by non-binary pronouns can even be made by a student who is strictly heterosexual but chooses to be identified by non-binary pronouns as either an act of rebellion or as a show of support for others.”

The lawsuit further claims that SUU’s policy “not only allows individuals to self-identify their gender and articulate their desired pronouns but compels everyone else to not only respect, but adopt, their choices.”

A paragraph under the heading “Gender Identify Announcement” in SUU’s Undergraduate Handbook states the following: 

Students have the right to express their gender identity freely. The faculty are committed to creating a safe positive learning environment for each and every student. If a student would prefer that we use a specific gender pronoun, please let faculty know during class introductions, office hours, or by email.

Bugg’s personal position on the issue appears in the record as follows: 

I … am opposed to the coercion of speech that is taking place on our campus and on most campuses. Asking people to use plural pronouns to refer to individuals is one thing. Forcing them to do it is another and contrary to our rights of free speech.

The lawsuit further states that Bugg declined to use plural pronouns to address or refer to the student but instead offered to use the complainant’s name or whatever singular pronouns they preferred.

This was done, the document states, “in order to accommodate Complainant and make Complainant feel as comfortable as possible without violating the Professor’s own deeply-held beliefs and convictions.” 

According to the lawsuit, although Bugg attempted to avoid using female pronouns when describing the complainant, which he described as “a virtually impossible task,” he admittedly did so two or three times “unintentionally.”

On Sept. 15, 2021, not long after the class started, the student filed a formal complaint with the university’s Title IX Office, according to the lawsuit, which also alleges that the student called for a boycott of the class and demanded that the university establish an alternative “shadow class” for any students who didn’t want to remain enrolled in the one taught by Bugg.

Additionally, the complainant allegedly told classmates that their goal was to get the professor fired, according to the lawsuit.

Southern Utah University theater professor Richard Bugg, date and location of not specified. | Photo courtesy of Southern Utah University suu.edu, St. George News / Cedar City News

The lawsuit states that the university’s subsequent investigation determined that Bugg’s refusal to address the complainant by their preferred pronouns was a violation of SUU Policies 5.27 and 5.60 and constituted “‘discrimination’ and ‘harassment’ based on gender identity.” 

Bugg was then ordered by his supervisors to receive training regarding the grammatical use of gender-neutral pronouns. He also was told that further sanctions, including possible termination, would result if he didn’t make “a good faith effort” to use students’ preferred pronouns. 

Another sanction, according to the lawsuit, states that if students refuse to register for sections of classes taught by Bugg, “SUU will open additional section(s) of those classes and Professor Bugg’s pay will be reduced to offset the amounts SUU must pay for the additional sections.”

The lawsuit further notes that Bugg disagreed with SUU’s investigative findings and sanctions, saying his actions were within his protected constitutional rights and that the policies themselves are unconstitutional. 

Bugg’s complaint seeks relief in the form of multiple declaratory judgments that would, among other things, assert that his conduct did not violate SUU’s written policies as well as prohibit the imposition or enforcement of any current or future sanctions against him in connection with the matter.

Additionally, the lawsuit seeks the court’s declaration that “it is not a violation of Title IX if a professor declines compliance with a requirement that the professor must use any of an unlimited number of potential pronouns that may be demanded by a student.”

The suit doesn’t seek any monetary damages, although it does request reasonable compensation for attorney’s fees.

Email and text messages seeking comment from the university’s administration were not immediately returned on Wednesday. SUU officials typically do not comment on pending litigation.

However, Thursday afternoon, the university released a statement through its public relations office, which read as follows:

Southern Utah University received a complaint filed in federal court on Tuesday, Aug. 30 by a faculty member, regarding the use of gender pronouns. Prior to the filing of the federal lawsuit,  SUU followed established policies and conducted an impartial investigation and hearing in accordance with due process.

While there is no SUU policy that specifically requires the use of gender pronouns, the University must strictly adhere to federal regulations regarding anti-discrimination (Policy 5.27) and sexual misconduct (Policy 5.60) under Title VII and Title IX respectively. Those regulations were updated in January 2021 with the Biden Administration expanding the definition of sex to include gender identity. SUU employees are required to follow these federal guidelines, just as are all people who are employed in either the private or public sectors.

President Biden’s Executive Order dated March 8, 2021 includes, ‘All students should be guaranteed an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, which encompasses sexual violence, and including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.’

Southern Utah University is committed to the principles of free speech guaranteed by the U.S. and Utah constitutions as well as applicable statutory and regulatory law as written in institutional Policy 5.1.

Updated Sept. 1, 12:45 p.m.: Adds official statement from SUU at bottom of story.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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