Space helmet-wearing professor agrees to gag order after $95k termination suit

Suspended Ferris State University Michigan professor Barry Mehler received $95,000 dollars in a settlement with the university after suing for wrongful termination during the 2022 Spring semester.

As part of the settlement, Mehler also agreed to retire from his teaching position, effective immediately, instead of being fired.

Suspended Ferris State University (FSU) Michigan professor Barry Mehler received $95,000 dollars in a settlement with the university after suing for wrongful termination during the 2022 Spring semester.

Mehler signed the gag order restricting him from criticizing the public Michigan university for three years. If broken, Mehler could be fined $60,000 dollars. 

[RELATED: ‘Stay the f*** away from me’, Ferris State professor calls in-person students ‘vectors of disease’]

As part of the settlement, Mehler also agreed to retire from his teaching position, effective immediately, instead of being fired. 

As Campus Reform previously reported, Mehler was placed on leave after he published a video of one of his classes that went viral for his extravagant use of profanity and calling his students “vectors of disease.”

In the video, Mehler can be heard saying, “I’m working in a paid f***ing union job and no limber-d**k c********r of an administrator is going to tell me how to teach my classes. Because I’m a f*****g tenured professor. So, if you want to go complain to your dean, f**k you, go ahead. I’m retiring at the end of this year and I couldn’t give a flying f**k any longer.”

He continued to degrade his students by saying that none of them were good enough to receive an A in his class, so he “randomly assign[s] grades.”

Mehler told students that in-person classes were full of “selfish kids who don’t give a s**t whether grandpa lives or dies.”

[RELATED: Professor allegedly fired for anti-mask stance files lawsuit]

Mehler was suspended with pay on January 11 following the video’s release and filed suit against the university on January 25. 

An FSU spokesperson told Campus Reform regarding the settlement, “The parties have amicably resolved their differences.”

Campus Reform reached out to Ferris State University and the best attempt was made to contact Mehler. This article will be updated accordingly.

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