Does the First Amendment protect you at work? Charlie Kirk critics are learning the answer
(NEXSTAR) -- Workers nationwide, many of them educators, have either been let go from their jobs or placed on leave after allegedly making comments online following the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
In several states, Nexstar affiliates have reported on teachers and school administrators being put on leave amid investigations into posts they allegedly made on social media following Kirk's death. In Oregon, a teacher and city councilor faced backlash over a post celebrating Kirk's assassination. An employee of the Carolina Panthers and a contributor for MSNBC were fired for their own remarks.
In nearly every case, the employers listed the same reasoning for the decisions to fire the employee or put them on leave.
The Panthers, for example, said the "views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those" of the team and that it does "not condone violence of any kind."
In Tennessee, two employees at Cumberland University were let go after making "inappropriate comments" online, Nexstar's WKRN reported.
“The examples of their posts were not what we would expect as a role model, but particularly the faculty member, but also the staff member, too, should have done for our students,” Cumberland University President Dr. Paul Stumb told the Associated Press. “I believe that they just made a mistake. It was an unfortunate and significant enough mistake that we felt like we needed to have them no longer in our employ.”
A North Carolina school said that a math teacher had been placed on leave pending an investigation over social media remarks. Per Nexstar's WJZY, the school said it “unequivocally denounces all acts of violence and expressions of hate speech,” and called the post “diametrically opposed to the values and principles that our school stands for.”
The superintendent of a Pennsylvania school that is also investigating a teacher for their remarks on Facebook shared a similar message, explaining that the teacher's "comments do not reflect the sentiment" of the school district. After a teacher in Virginia was put on leave for allegedly posting about Kirk's death, school officials said in a statement that employees are expected "to conduct themselves in a professional, courteous, and respectful manner at all times" because they "have a unique responsibility to serve as role models, leaders, and caretakers for students in the school division." An Ohio school district said it placed a teacher on administrative leave for alleged social media posts that "do not align with our school district's core values."
The University of Mississippi removed an employee who "re-shared hurtful, insensitive comments on social media regarding the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk." The school said the comments were "completely counter to our institutional values of civility, fairness, and respecting the dignity of each person."
This isn't the first time employees have been fired or placed under investigation for social media posts.
A teacher in Kansas was previously fired for comedic videos posted on TikTok. A football coach, a city employee, a county employee, a reality TV star, and several Border Patrol agents are among those who have faced consequences in recent years for posts deemed offensive.
“Most people think they have a right to free speech…but that doesn’t necessarily apply in the workplace,” said Vanessa Matsis-McCready, associate general counsel and vice president of HR Services for Engage PEO, told The Associated Press. “Most employees in the private sector do not have any protections for that type of speech at work.”
Protections for workers vary state by state, but across most of the U.S., it's "at-will" employment law, meaning employers can choose to hire and fire as they see fit, including over employees’ speech.
“The First Amendment does not apply in private workplaces to protect employees’ speech,” said Andrew Kragie, an attorney who specializes in employment and labor law at Maynard Nexsen, while speaking with the Associated Press. “It actually does protect employers’ right to make decisions about employees, based on employees’ speech.”
Steven T. Collis, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and faculty director of the school’s Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center, also points to some state laws that say employers can’t fire their workers for “legal off duty conduct.” But there’s often an exception for conduct seen as disruptive to an employer’s business or reputation, which could be grounds to fire someone over public comments or social media posts.
For public employees, which can range from school teachers and postal workers to elected officials, the process is a bit different. That’s because the First Amendment plays a unique role when the government is the employer, Collis explains. The Supreme Court has ruled that if an employee is acting in a private capacity but speaking on a matter of public concern, they could be protected. Still, he noted that government employers can discipline a worker if they determine such conduct will interfere with the government’s ability to do its job.
“People don’t realize when they’re on social media, it is the town square,” said Amy Dufrane, CEO of the Human Resource Certification Institute. “They’re not having a private conversation with the neighbor over the fence. They’re really broadcasting their views.”
Employees can also be seen as ambassadors of a company’s brand, and their political speech can dilute that brand and hurt its reputation, depending on what is being said and how it is being received. That is leading more companies to act on what employees are saying online, she said.
“Some of the individuals that had posted and their posts went viral, all of a sudden the phone lines of their employers were just nonstop calls complaining,” Matsis-McCready said.
Kirk, 31, was killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University last week. The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody a day later.
He is not cooperating with investigators, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said Sunday, but his family has indicated that he had left-leaning political beliefs and disliked the conservative influencer.
Nexstar's Alix Martichoux and Jeremy Tanner, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.