$225K: Ball State settles with employee fired for Charlie Kirk online post
Some details of a settlement have been made public between Ball State University and an employee the school fired for social media comments on Charlie Kirk’s death. As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the school is also commenting on the situation.
Audio Transcript
Suzanne Swierc was Director of Health Promotion and Advocacy for Ball State, until she was fired on September 17 of last year. That’s after her private Facebook post calling conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death a “tragedy” but also pointing to “violence, fear, and hatred he sowed” was shared publicly by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.
Swierc sued Ball State president Geoffrey Mearns in his capacity as university president, saying he violated her First Amendment rights.
The settlement was first announced in early April, but the case hadn’t yet been dismissed by the court. Now, the full settlement still has not been released. But some details come in a statement from the ACLU, which represented Swierc.
According to the ACLU, the university will pay her $225,000. And, Ball State employees are now allowed to serve as references for Swierc’s future job hunts. It requires that her former supervisors “will acknowledge her positive contributions to health promotion and advocacy work at the university.”
Swierc’s lawyers have said she was not asking for her job back, as Swierc doesn’t feel Ball State was a place she could work at again.
Read More: Muncie human rights commission president resigns over Charlie Kirk comments
When asked for comment, Ball State sent an email from Mearns that had been sent to university leaders. Mearns says Ball State settled the case, because it was what he called “substantially less” than the university would have had to pay in legal fees. He also says “the settlement does not vindicate Swierc’s claims.”
Mearns then explains at length why he says he had both the “legal authority” and “professional responsibility” to fire Swierc. He mentions many threatening calls made to Ball State offices by Kirk supporters angry at Swierc’s post. He said her post was “extraordinarily damaging to our University’s reputation and image.”
Also in September, Ball State said it was investigating a post about Charlie Kirk’s death from a second university employee.
That employee tells IPR she proved her claim her social media account had been hacked and she did not write the post herself. Because Ball State did not name her in its statement and the investigation ended with no disciplinary action, IPR is not naming her. She continues to work for Ball State.
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.
