People fired or arrested over social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s killing have collected more than $2.2 million in Charlie Kirk firing lawsuit settlements as of late May 2026, spread across at least six resolved cases. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression was tracking 14 active federal First Amendment lawsuits at that point, and that count left out private-sector and state-court claims.1Axios. Charlie Kirk Settlement Payouts Top $2 Million2Forbes. People Punished for Criticizing Charlie Kirk After Shooting Have Won More Than $2 Million in Lawsuits
Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University. Within hours, employers across the country began firing workers over posts that criticized, mocked, or contextualized his death, and a wave of federal lawsuits followed. An estimated 600 people were fired or otherwise punished.2Forbes. People Punished for Criticizing Charlie Kirk After Shooting Have Won More Than $2 Million in Lawsuits
Why These Firings Turned Into Winning Cases
Most of the plaintiffs worked for state or local government, which puts their speech under a settled Supreme Court framework. Under Pickering v. Board of Education (1968) and Connick v. Myers (1983), a public employee’s speech is protected when it addresses a matter of public concern and is made in a private capacity, and courts then weigh the worker’s interest in speaking against the employer’s interest in avoiding real operational disruption.3Constitution Annotated. First Amendment – Government Employee Speech
Employers kept losing on the disruption half of that test. Complaints and social media outrage aren’t enough on their own, and when discovery arrived, the evidence often looked thinner than the initial claims. FIRE’s Adam Goldstein noted that mere “controversy or complaints” generally do not meet the legal standard, and that many of the firings looked “disproportionate.”4NBC News. Charlie Kirk Educators Fired Social Media Lawsuits Free Speech In one Florida case, an agency official was later sanctioned by a federal court for filing a false affidavit that inflated the complaint count.5WCTV. Over $400K Settlement Reached for FWC Biologist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Social Media Post
Private-sector firings sit outside the First Amendment entirely. The settlements below all involve government employers, or in one case a county sheriff who arrested a citizen over a Facebook post.
Larry Bushart: $835,000 (Tennessee)
Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired law enforcement officer in Perry County, Tennessee, shared a Facebook meme quoting Donald Trump saying “We have to get over it,” a reference to a 2024 school shooting in Perry, Iowa, and added the caption “This seems relevant today….” A local high school shared part of the Iowa school’s name, and Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems ordered his arrest, saying the post was meant to create “hysteria.”6Detroit News. Tennessee Man Jailed Over Charlie Kirk Post Awarded $835,000 Settlement7LiveNOW from FOX. Larry Bushart Charlie Kirk Facebook Post Settlement
Bushart was charged with threatening mass violence at a school, held on $2 million bail, and spent 37 days in jail before prosecutors moved to dismiss the charge in October 2025.8First Amendment Center at MTSU. Felony Charge Dropped After Man Spends Month in Tennessee Jail for Charlie Kirk Post His federal suit against the county, Sheriff Weems, and an investigator alleged First and Fourth Amendment violations. It settled on May 20, 2026, for $835,000, paid by the Local Government Property and Casualty Fund.9The Hill. Tennessee Man Settlement Charlie Kirk
Darren Michael: $500,000 (Tennessee)
Darren Michael, a tenured acting and directing professor at Austin Peay State University, posted a 2023 news headline reading “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth it to Keep 2nd Amendment.” Two days after the shooting, Senator Marsha Blackburn circulated a screenshot with his biography and photo and tagged the university. He was fired shortly afterward.10First Amendment Watch. Tennessee University Reinstates Professor Fired for Charlie Kirk Post and Settles for $500K
Within two weeks the university walked it back, placing him on paid suspension. In a December 30, 2025, email, university president Mike Licari acknowledged the school “did not follow the required tenure termination process.” Michael was reinstated the same day, and the school paid $500,000, including reimbursement for counseling costs. The settlement was authorized by Tennessee’s governor, attorney general, and comptroller.11New York Times. Austin Peay Professor Charlie Kirk Settlement Reinstated
Brittney Brown: $485,000 (Florida)
Brittney Brown had worked for Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for about seven years as a shorebird biologist on the panhandle. While on vacation, she reposted a meme to her private Instagram story. The day after the Libs of TikTok account shared her identity and workplace, the FWC fired her.12The Guardian. Florida Biologist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Post Wins Settlement
The ACLU of Florida sued in the Northern District of Florida for viewpoint discrimination and retaliation. During the case, the court sanctioned an FWC official for a false affidavit that had claimed the agency received “hundreds” of complaints (discovery put the number closer to 50, none of them reviewed by agency leadership) and sanctioned the state’s outside law firm for “engaging in vexatious litigation.”13ACLU of Florida. Free Speech Advocates Urge Court to Reinstate Employee Fired Over Charlie Kirk Social Media Post5WCTV. Over $400K Settlement Reached for FWC Biologist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Social Media Post Brown signed a $485,000 settlement on May 21, 2026, broken down as $40,000 in back wages, $235,000 in compensatory damages, and $210,000 in attorney fees. She agreed not to seek future employment at the FWC.14WFLX. FWC Biologist Wins $485,000 Settlement After Being Fired for Private Post About Charlie Kirk
Suzanne Swierc: $225,000 (Indiana)
Suzanne Swierc, the director of health promotion and advocacy at Ball State University, wrote a private Facebook comment calling Kirk’s death a “tragedy” but also a “reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed.” A screenshot was submitted through Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s “Eyes on Education” portal, and Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns fired her, identifying the Facebook post as the “only reason.”15ACLU of Indiana. ACLU of Indiana Files Suit Against Ball State University President16The Guardian. Indiana Woman Fired Over Charlie Kirk Post Settlement
The ACLU of Indiana filed suit on September 22, 2025, in the Southern District of Indiana (Case No. 1:2025cv01897), naming Mearns as the defendant. The university argued the post caused “significant disruption” to enrollment and fundraising. It settled for $225,000 during the week of May 18, 2026. Mearns called the payment “modest” and said the settlement “does not vindicate Swierc’s claims.”17FOX59. Ball State Pays Ex-Employee $225K Over Charlie Kirk Post18Indiana Capital Chronicle. Ball State Reaches Settlement in Charlie Kirk Free Speech Lawsuit
Joshua Bregy: Confidential Amount (South Carolina)
Joshua Bregy, an assistant professor of environmental engineering and earth sciences at Clemson University, shared a Facebook post that condemned violence but described Kirk’s rhetoric as damaging, writing that “karma is sometimes swift and ironic.” Clemson fired him on September 26, 2025. The ACLU of South Carolina sued on October 3, alleging the termination came under pressure from state and national politicians who had threatened to defund the university.19ACLU of South Carolina. Fired Clemson Faculty Member Wins Settlement After Being Fired for a Facebook Post About Charlie Kirk
A mediated settlement finalized on January 3, 2026, rescinded the termination. Bregy kept his salary and benefits (about $91,190 per year) through May 15, 2026, when he agreed to resign. He was barred from teaching or interacting with students during that stretch, and Clemson agreed to provide positive letters of recommendation.20SC Daily Gazette. Clemson Professor Fired Over Charlie Kirk Post Will Get Paid but Won’t Teach
Jana Aldrich: Unemployment Benefits (Iowa)
Jana Aldrich, a teacher at an Iowa nonprofit, was fired over a post about Kirk’s death. She reached a settlement on March 2, 2026, awarding her an unspecified amount in unemployment benefits.2Forbes. People Punished for Criticizing Charlie Kirk After Shooting Have Won More Than $2 Million in Lawsuits
Active Cases and Early Wins
Several suits were still open as of mid-2026, and one professor had already been reinstated through a preliminary court order without a monetary payout.
Monica Meeks (Tennessee)
Meeks, a 20-year Army veteran who had worked for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance since 2016, was fired on September 12, 2025, over a Facebook comment reading, “The way you tap dance for White Supremacist should be studied.” Commissioner Carter Lawrence said the post showed “bias and disregard toward the very people she was tasked with serving.” FIRE filed suit on her behalf on December 10, 2025, in the Middle District of Tennessee.21WKRN. State Employee Fired Over Kirk Comment Files Federal Suit22FIRE. Monica Meeks v. Carter Lawrence
Lauren Vaughn (South Carolina)
Vaughn, a teacher’s aide at River Ridge Elementary in Spartanburg County and the district’s 2021 Support Staff Employee of the Year, posted a Charlie Kirk quote about gun deaths followed by “Thoughts and prayers,” clarified in comments that she disagreed with Kirk, and deleted the post that evening. The district placed her on leave on September 12 and fired her on September 15. Her federal suit argues the district’s social media policy is “unconstitutionally overbroad, vague, and viewpoint-discriminatory.” It is pending before U.S. District Judge Donald Coggins.23GoUpstate. Lawyers Say Spartanburg Teacher’s Posts Leading to Firing Were Protected24The State. Spartanburg Teacher’s Posts Leading to Firing Were Protected, Lawyers Say
Michael Hook (South Dakota)
Hook, a tenured art professor at the University of South Dakota, posted on the day of the shooting that he had no “thoughts or prayers” for Kirk and called him a “hate spreading Nazi.” He deleted the post and apologized. Two days later the university sent a notice of intent to terminate. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier granted a temporary restraining order, finding Hook had a “fair chance of prevailing” because his speech addressed a matter of public concern and the university had not shown any disruption. The university dropped the termination effort on October 3, 2025, and Hook’s attorney moved to dismiss the suit.25South Dakota Searchlight. SD University Professor Facing Termination Over Social Media Post About Charlie Kirk Files Lawsuit26Higher Ed Dive. University of South Dakota Ordered to Reinstate Professor Over Charlie Kirk Comments
What Comes Next
The pattern across the settled cases was consistent. Public employers who fired workers over private, off-duty posts about a public figure could not produce the evidence of genuine operational disruption that Pickering requires, and in some cases the disruption they described didn’t hold up under discovery. With dozens of additional federal cases still active and the ACLU and FIRE continuing to file, the running total is expected to climb well past $2.2 million.2Forbes. People Punished for Criticizing Charlie Kirk After Shooting Have Won More Than $2 Million in Lawsuits