BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP)- A former student has sued Montana State University, saying the school violated his rights by kicking him off campus after he spoke against transgender people during a private meeting with a teacher.
The lawsuit claims MSU discriminated against the unidentified male student on the basis of sex and violated his right to free speech, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported Tuesday. It seeks $225,000 in damages.
MSU officials declined to comment on the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Butte.
The student was required to take a class on diversity and signed up for Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality, taught by psychology instructor Katharine Kujawa, according to the lawsuit. Students signed a confidentiality agreement promising not to discuss information about other students outside class.
The student said he opted against speaking in class or writing a paper about his objection to transgender people because he knew his beliefs were unpopular and he didn’t want to upset a female student who had identified herself as transgender. Instead, he spoke with the instructor privately for half-credit on the assignment.
The instructor asked the student how he would react if the transgender student approached him outside class. Kujawa said the student stated he would ask her to leave him alone and if she kept trying to speak to him, he would “break her face.”
The plaintiff argues that was a misinterpretation of his comments and that he told the instructor about an incident years earlier when a man groped his girlfriend and he hit the man, learning later that the man was gay.
He said he was trying to explain that the last time he had an altercation with someone from the LGBTQ community, it was not related to their sexual orientation.
The lawsuit alleges the instructor told the transgender student that the male student had threatened her and asked if she wanted to file a complaint.
The deputy Title IX coordinator investigated and found the male student had violated MSU policy by creating a hostile environment. The university suspended him for the fall 2016 semester, required that he have no contact with the female student and required him to undergo anger management and civil rights training before he could return to campus.
He appealed, and the Commissioner of Higher Education upheld MSU’s decision.
The male student argued he had the right to express his views without being punished and that the professor violated his privacy by sharing his confidential comments.
