Holly Ackerman, a former exceptional-children teacher at Webb Street School in Gastonia, has taken her firing to federal court after a Facebook comment about conservative activist Charlie Kirk cost her job. In a lawsuit filed July 14, she claims Gaston County Schools trampled her constitutional right to free speech when it dismissed her over an off-duty social media remark that quickly escaped her friends list and went viral.
According to the complaint, Ackerman was at home on Sept. 10, 2025, when she saw a Facebook post that included a quote attributed to Kirk. On her private account, she responded, “I can't believe people are actually mourning this douchebag,” a comment she says was visible only to friends before someone grabbed a screenshot and shared it more widely, as reported by WBTV. The Associated Press reported that Kirk was shot and killed that same day.
The lawsuit says Gaston County Schools suspended Ackerman with pay on Sept. 11, 2025. On Sept. 18, Superintendent Morgen Houchard sent her written notice that the comment violated school board policies and, on Sept. 23, recommended that she be fired, according to WSOC-TV. A hearing followed on Nov. 5, and on Nov. 7 the Gaston County Board of Education voted to dismiss her, the complaint states.
At that hearing, colleagues from Webb Street School testified that Ackerman was an “excellent teacher,” that she steered clear of politics in the classroom, and that her students did not know about the Kirk post, according to the filing.
Ackerman Seeks Reinstatement And Damages
Through the federal lawsuit, Ackerman is seeking to get her job back and to be paid for what she says the firing cost her financially and emotionally. She is asking for compensatory damages for lost wages, emotional distress and attorney fees, along with reinstatement to her position, as reported by WBTV.
The complaint argues that her Facebook post did not disrupt school operations or affect students in any meaningful way and that punishing her for a private, off-duty comment violated her rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The suit names Gaston County Schools, the district’s nine-member Board of Education and Superintendent Houchard as defendants.
Part Of A National Wave
Ackerman’s case is playing out against a broader, messy backdrop of disputes over what teachers can safely say online when they are off the clock, especially when it involves Charlie Kirk. Around the country, districts and courts have split on where that line should be drawn.
In Georgia, a teacher disciplined over a Kirk-related post reached a confidential settlement with her district after filing a federal lawsuit, according to CBS Atlanta. In Florida, an administrative judge recently recommended that another teacher be reinstated after a suspension tied to comments about Kirk, per WFLX. Together, the cases highlight how unsettled the law remains when it comes to public employees’ private speech and school social media rules.
Ackerman’s lawsuit was filed July 14 in federal court. Gaston County Schools said it does not typically comment on pending litigation, according to WSOC-TV. The case now moves into the federal court system, where judges handling a growing stack of similar disputes will continue to define how far school districts can go in policing what their employees say online.
