While at-will employees faced immediate terminations, public employees and union workers have filed lawsuits, securing significant financial settlements ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
The assassination of 31-year-old conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University triggered a nationwide wave of online activism and employer retaliation.
The campaign resulted in the abrupt termination of dozens of public school employees, firefighters, military personnel, and university professors. Political figures quickly weighed in on individual posts. In Tennessee, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn publicly denounced a Facebook post by university employee Laura Sosh-Lightsy—who had written La haine engendre la haine.
Lawsuits, Settlements, and the High Price of Free Speech
In the year following the activist’s death, affected workers have turned to the courts, arguing that their terminations infringed upon their free speech rights. The legal outcomes have varied dramatically between the public and private sectors. While most private-sector employees work under at-will contracts that allow employers to terminate staff without reason, public employees and unionised workers retain stronger constitutional protections.
Several terminated public employees have secured substantial financial settlements or arbitration victories. A biologist identified as Brown agreed to a financial settlement of $485,000 (£355,000)—representing approximately 12 times her annual salary. Darren Michael was reinstated by Austin Peay State University, and in January, the institution agreed to pay him $500,000 to resolve legal claims. In the largest settlement reviewed by the BBC, the University of Tennessee agreed to pay $1.9m to resolve a lawsuit brought by anthropologist Tamar Shirinian.
Brown stated via the BBC that all she had wanted was her job back, questioning how much taxpayer money they had wasted on the matter when she barely made $40,000 a year, and concluding that it consequently did not feel like justice.
Brown, biologist, via BBC
Other litigants expressed similar reservations about accepting payouts instead of returning to work. Shirinian stated that while she wanted to resume her position, a full trial would be protracted. She told the BBC that she took a settlement because it allowed her to move on with her life, adding that her one small regret
was missing her day in court.
High-Profile Legal Battles at Universities and School Districts
Legal disputes have particularly targeted higher education institutions and K-12 school districts. Bowen School of Law, former professor Felicia Branch was suspended in September 2025 after publishing a Facebook post concerning Kirk’s death.
Felicia Branch stated via the Arkansas Times that she would not pull back from celebrating that an evil man had died by the method he chose to embrace, and urged people not to tell those targeted by someone like him how to feel, how not to post, or how not to celebrate that he could no longer inflict his brand of evil.
Felicia Branch, former professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law, via Arkansas Times
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders and Attorney General Tim Griffin publicly called for Branch’s termination. Despite a faculty panel recommending reinstatement, the university fired Branch in October 2025. In May, Branch filed a federal lawsuit against the law school dean, Griffin, and Sanders. Verona Swanigan, an attorney representing Branch, described the professional fallout to the Arkansas Times as an endless impact on her client’s livelihood, income, and reputation.
Similarly, Joshua Chance Duncan, an 18-year veteran biology teacher in the Russellville School District, was terminated after posting a personal Facebook message featuring a Clarence Darrow quote stating that he had never wished a man dead, but had read some obituaries with great pleasure. Although Duncan deleted the post the following morning and apologized, the Russellville School District placed him on leave and fired him weeks later.
Pending Litigation and Federal Scrutiny
Beyond individual state cases, federal employment actions continue to unfold. An arbitrator recently ordered The Washington Post to rehire opinion journalist Karen Attiah with back pay after she was terminated for social media posts stating that she would not engage in performative mourning for a white man that had espoused violence. Numerous other lawsuits filed by employees across the country remain pending.
Government and military leadership have also maintained scrutiny over public commentary. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered military services to identify any service members who mocked or celebrated the assassination. Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stated that foreign nationals who glorify violence are unwelcome in the country, directing officials to monitor and investigate online commentary from non-citizens.
