Indiana university to pay $225K settlement to woman fired over Charlie Kirk post

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Ball State University entrance sign. (Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A former employee of Ball State University in Indiana will be awarded $225,000 to settle a lawsuit after she was fired last year over a social media post about the death of Charlie Kirk. 

Suzanne Swierc worked at the university’s campus in Muncie, Indiana as the director of health promotion and advocacy. She was fired in September after posting to her personal Facebook page comments about Kirk’s death. 

She called it a "tragedy" but also added that it was a "reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed." She continued, "If you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends." 

Her posts were not made public, but someone leaked screenshots of comments she made on Kirk that were shared online. 

The other side:

Geoffrey Mearns, Ball State University’s president, said her post led to a flood of outrage, with several phone calls and emails to the university warning them they would withhold donations, and others threatening to withdraw her children from the school. Mearns also claimed some even threatened violence. 

Mearns stood by the firing, saying the backlash over Swierc’s post could have harmed fundraising and enrollment numbers in the future. A Ball State spokesperson shared a statement with The Associated Press where Mearns said the settlement’s "modest monetary payment" was substantially less than the cost of fighting her lawsuit. 

The American Civil Liberties Union, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Swierc, said, "The First Amendment does not allow government institutions to retaliate in those circumstances, and this settlement reflects that."

RELATED: Charlie Kirk shooting: Law enforcement asking for tips; search underway for gunman

Big picture view:

Swierc is the latest of several to have won lawsuits after being fired for posting social media commentary and memes about the death of Charlie Kirk. 

Just this month alone, a Florida biologist won nearly half a million after she was fired for reposting a meme claiming that Kirk wouldn’t care about children being shot in school. Also, a Tennessee man who was jailed over a Charlie Kirk Facebook post won $835,000 after he filed suit.