Professor Fired Over Charlie Kirk Comments Receives $1.9M

A former professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville has received a $1.9 million settlement after being fired for a private Facebook post criticizing Charlie Kirk after his death. 

The Washington Post reports that Tamar Shirinian, a former anthropology professor at the university, filed a lawsuit against the university’s chancellor, the state university system president, and the faculty senate president. Shirinian argued that her First Amendment rights had been violated after the school fired her for a post about Kirk. 

“The world is better off without him in it. Even those who are claiming to be sad for his wife and kids …. like, his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she’s a sick f*#k for marrying him, so I don’t care about her feelings.” Shirinian wrote in a Facebook post shortly after Kirk’s death. 

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who publicly called for any person working in public education to be fired if they publicly criticized Charlie Kirk after his death, was tagged in a tweet that had a screenshot of Shirinian’s post. Burchett simply responded, “On it,” and days later, Shirinian was placed on administrative leave. Despite deleting the post, apologizing, and meeting with university representatives, she was fired in February of this year. 

According to the New York Times, the university approved the settlement during a meeting of the university’s board of trustees on Monday. Board chair John Compton said continuing to fight the litigation would drain resources that were “better directed toward advancing the institution’s mission, vision and values.” Shirinian’s attorney, Robb Bigelow, called the settlement a “mutually acceptable resolution.”

“We think it recognizes the seriousness of the issues, while avoiding the time, expense, and stress of continued litigation. We wish the university nothing but the best as everyone moves forward,” Bigelow told the Washington Post. The settlement must now be approved by several Tennessee officials, including the governor. 

Shirinian is far from the only person to be fired for their social media posts about Charlie Kirk following his death. An investigation by Reuters found that 600 people have been fired or punished for posts criticizing Charlie Kirk after his death. Jacob Gaba, a legal fellow with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told the Post that the group is tracking 17 First Amendment cases brought by people who were fired or otherwise punished for comments about Kirk. 

Several people have already received significant payouts from their former employers as a result of their firings. In May, Indiana’s Ball State University agreed to pay $225,000 to a former administrator who was fired over a Facebook post criticizing Charlie Kirk.

To call Kirk a controversial figure is an understatement, and there were just as many posts criticizing the conservative podcaster as there were celebrating him. 

What’s wild to me is that President Donald Trump has celebrated the death of people he disliked, and there was no pushback from the Republican masses. The death of Charlie Kirk had the unintended effect of exposing how the so-called “party of free speech” doesn’t actually believe in free speech. Yet, somehow, we’re the snowflakes. 

Make it make sense, y’all. 

SEE ALSO:

Black Texas Tech Student Expelled, Arrested For Mocking Charlie Kirk’s Death

Jimmy Kimmel Show Pulled Over Charlie Kirk Remarks

Tennessee Professor Fired Over Charlie Kirk Comments Receives $1.9M was originally published on newsone.com