A former special education associate at Knoxville Community School District in Iowa has settled her wrongful termination lawsuit for $145,000 after she was fired over a Facebook post she wrote the day conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed. Stacey Sumpter lost her job on Sept. 12, 2025, just two days after making the post, and the district agreed to pay out without admitting any fault.
A Post, Then a Firing
According to The Des Moines Register, Sumpter received the $145,000 settlement after she was fired for online comments she made about Kirk’s murder. Sumpter wrote the post on her personal Facebook account while off duty on Sept. 10, 2025, the same day Kirk was assassinated, as reported by Fox News. Her post reportedly included the line, “since I never wish to see you again, I say goodbye,” according to KWQC.
Fox News reports that community members contacted the school district on Sept. 11, 2025, demanding punishment for the content of Sumpter’s speech. She was terminated the following day. Sumpter’s attorneys argued in her lawsuit that the post was a personal, private expression of her viewpoint that did not threaten anyone or incite imminent unlawful action or violence, the outlet notes.
District Settles, Won’t Discuss the Case
Knoxville Community School District Superintendent Cassi Pearson said the district does not comment on pending litigation, per Fox News. The district’s decision to settle the lawsuit — reportedly without admitting fault, as later reported by The Des Moines Register and KWQC — closes out the case without resolving the underlying First Amendment question Sumpter’s legal team raised: whether a public employee’s off-duty social media post about a public figure’s death can be grounds for termination.
Part of a Broader Pattern Across the Country
Sumpter’s case is not isolated. KWQC reports she is one of at least 10 public employees disciplined for their responses to Kirk’s death, and at least three of those employees have received six-figure lawsuit payouts. Another Iowa educator, Creston High School teacher Melisa Crook, reached a settlement that included $145,000 plus her salary and benefits for the 2025-26 school year, totaling more than $82,000, according to KCRG. Crook argued that her First Amendment rights were violated and that she faced wrongful termination over a private, off-duty comment, the station reports, and as part of that settlement the Creston Community School District must distribute a statement affirming respect for the diverse opinions, beliefs and affiliations among its staff, students and families.
The payouts tied to Kirk-related firings extend well beyond K-12 schools. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression reports that the University of Tennessee system settled a lawsuit for $1.9 million with an assistant anthropology professor fired after criticizing Kirk. Austin Peay State University professor Darren Michael received a $500,000 settlement and got his job back after being fired over a Kirk-related post, while Ball State University paid $225,000 after firing its director of student wellness over a private Facebook post about Kirk’s murder, according to the organization.
Other cases cited by the civil liberties group include a North Carolina school district that paid $95,000 after censoring a student tribute to Kirk painted on a so-called spirit rock, and retired Tennessee law enforcement officer Larry Bushart, who won an $835,000 settlement after being arrested over a Facebook meme. Taken together, the string of settlements suggests school districts and public employers around the country are facing steep legal costs when they move to discipline employees for speech connected to Kirk’s death.
