Woman fired by Indiana university over Charlie Kirk post to receive $225,000 legal settlement

A woman employed at Ball State University was fired after posting on Facebook criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his death. The university cited the post as the sole reason for termination, claiming it caused significant disruption on campus. A federal lawsuit alleged the firing violated free-speech protections. The settlement provides $225,000 to the former employee. The ACLU said the post was made as a private citizen on a matter of public concern and that government institutions cannot retaliate in those circumstances. The university president defended the decision, saying backlash threatened enrollment and fundraising, and characterized the settlement payment as modest compared with the cost of continued litigation.

"A woman fired by an Indiana university over her Facebook post criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was killed will receive $225,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused her former employer of violating her free-speech rights, the woman's attorneys said Tuesday."

"Ball State cited Swierc's private Facebook post about Kirk as the sole reason for her termination, saying it caused "significant disruption" to the campus. Swierc's firing violated her constitutional rights because she was "speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern," said Stevie Pactor, an ACLU attorney in Indiana."

""The First Amendment does not allow government institutions to retaliate in those circumstances, and this settlement reflects that," Pactor said in a statement. Mearns defended firing Swierc in a statement sent Tuesday to campus leaders, which a Ball State spokesperson shared with The Associated Press."

"Mearns said backlash over Swierc's post threatened to harm the school's student enrollment and fundraising. He said the settlement's "modest monetary payment" to Swierc was substantially less than fighting her lawsuit would have cost."

Read at Boston.com