FSU Prof Makes Profane Tirade Pay With $95K Settlement
Barry Mehler said he was just trying to get his students' juices flowing. But what he really did was make the money flow into his bank account. Fox 17 reports Mehler and Ferris State University have settled their dispute to the tune of $95,000 and Mehler agrees to a three-year gag order to not speak about the case or the settlement.
The story began with Mehler putting together a profanity-laced Zoom video to welcome students. Not surprisingly, the video went viral and got Mehler put on administrative leave. In March a judge refused to reinstate Mehler who had been teaching for "decades" at the Big Rapids school.
The settlement pays Mehler $95,000, which isn't bad considering if he were in the "real" business world, he'd have been fired and that would be the end of the story. But the tirade got Mehler a big check in exchange for three years of silence. All in all, not a bad deal for him and quite a golden parachute for the 75-year-old Mehler as he is sent off into retirement.
As was reported earlier this year, college students aren't children anymore, but there are limits to what anyone can say in public. For those not wanting to relive the experience, Professor Mehler drops the f-bomb several times and spews many other words not appropriate for children and people with sensitive ears.
(Skylar Pepplar via YouTube)
The New York Post said "Mehler told the AP back then he was performing when he used expletive language and was only joking when he claimed he did not want to know students’ names or he would hand out grades randomly.