The First Amendment maybe down during the Trump 2.0 era….
But it ain’t out…..
A university in Indiana will pay a former employee $225,000 to settle a lawsuit after she was fired over a social media post criticizing conservative commentator Charlie Kirk after he was killed last year.
Ball State University agreed to pay Suzanne Swierc, the university’s former director of health promotion and advocacy, after she filed a federal lawsuit alleging the school violated her constitutional rights when it fired her in September, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced Tuesday.
Swierc was terminated in September after making a post on her private Facebook account following Kirk’s assassination at a Turning Point USA event in Utah. In the post, she referred to his death as a “tragedy” but also said it was a “reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed,” adding: “If you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends.”
Her post was captured and spread online, leading to outrage and a swarm of phone calls and emails to the university about the post, including threats to withhold donations to the school and even violence, according to Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns…..
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“The First Amendment does not allow government institutions to retaliate in those circumstances, and this settlement reflects that,” ACLU attorney Stevie Pactor said in a statement.
Swierc’s settlement with the university is the latest payment in a string of lawsuits tied to firings over social media criticisms of Kirk following his death.
Last week, Florida officials agreed to pay a biologist $485,000 after firing her over a post she reshared on Instagram claiming Kirk did not care about children being shot in their classrooms. A Tennessee man who was jailed for more than 30 days after sharing memes about Kirk will receive $835,000 to settle his lawsuit….
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