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Stephanie Wiechmann
Suzanne Swierc was director of health promotion and advocacy for Ball State until she was fired on September 17th 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 StatePresident Geoffrey Mearns in his capacity as university president, saying he violated her First Amendment rights.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
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 represents 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.

00;00;47;01 - 00;01;07;19
Stephanie Wiechmann
It requires that her former supervisors 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. When asked for comment, Ball State sent an email from President Mearns that had been sent to university leaders.

00;01;07;26 - 00;01;33;09
Stephanie Wiechmann
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, quote, 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 said her post was, quote, extraordinarily damaging to our university's reputation and image.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
I'm Stephanie Wiechmann in Muncie.