""The court concludes that Hook spoke as a citizen and his speech was on a matter of public concern," district court judge Karen Schreier wrote. "Defendants note that Hook's Facebook page identified himself as a professor at the University of South Dakota ... but this alone does not show that a post made on his personal Facebook account is speech that arises from Hook's duties as a professor.""
"Hook was informed in a letter from Bruce Kelley, dean of the University of South Dakota College of Fine Arts, that in posting the comment on Facebook he'd violated two university policies. The first dealt with "neglect of duty, misconduct, incompetence and abuse of power," and the second detailed that when employees speak publicly "they should remember that the public may judge their profession and thei"
The court ordered reinstatement of Michael Hook, a tenured University of South Dakota art professor, after finding his Facebook comments were protected speech. The judge concluded Hook spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern and that identifying as a professor on his personal page did not make the posts part of his official duties. Hook posted harsh comments about Charlie Kirk after Kirk's death, later deleted the post and apologized. University officials placed Hook on leave and cited violations of policies including neglect of duty and rules about public statements by employees. Multiple faculty faced discipline for comments about Kirk's death.
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