Teacher fired over online Charlie Kirk posts wants her job back in TN, suit says
A Tennessee woman is challenging her firing from an elementary school over two Facebook posts related to the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, according to a federal lawsuit.
The posts shared by Susannah O’Brien, who most recently taught at Roy Waldron Elementary in La Vergne, were deemed “unprofessional” and “not in alignment with the expectations as an educator,” a complaint filed Oct. 8 in the Middle District of Tennessee says.
O’Brien says she shared the posts, which appeared critical of Kirk, as a private citizen on her Facebook page and that they caused no disruption at school. Her Facebook page can only be viewed by her friends.
“(O’Brien’s) termination, rather than her posts, did disrupt the school,” her attorneys, Frank Ross Brazil and Mark J. Downton, wrote in the complaint.
The filing says her firing also drew attention to “her posts that did not otherwise exist.”
The lawsuit argues O’Brien was terminated for exercising her free speech rights.
She is suing the Rutherford County Board of Education and James Sullivan, the director of Rutherford County Schools, to get her job back.
School district communications officer James Evans told McClatchy News via email on Oct. 10 that the district received a legal notice of the lawsuit on Oct. 8.
“We don’t comment on pending litigation but our legal representatives plan to respond through the judicial process,” Evans said.
What did the posts say?
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was publicly shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10.
The lawsuit says “Mr. Kirk was a divisive public figure” and “his public comments greatly upset some people while others found him inspiring.”
After Kirk’s assassination, O’Brien shared two posts other creators had made about his death.
“Her posts did not contain her own commentary,” the complaint says.
One of the posts, according to the lawsuit, said: “The fact that Trump is putting the flag at half staff for a white supremacist and never once lowered it for murdered school children tells you everything you need to know.”
Another post, the complaint says, stated: “Charlie Kirk spent his entire life disparaging immigrants, disrespecting women and blaming Black folks, only to get shot in one of the whitest places on earth.”
On Sept. 17, the human resources director for Rutherford County Schools met with O’Brien about the posts, according to the complaint.
Then she was put on leave without pay pending an investigation, the complaint says.
On Oct. 1, O’Brien received an email informing her that she had been fired, according to the complaint.
A letter written by Sullivan was attached to the email and stated in part, according to the lawsuit, that: “This decision is based on your insubordination and professional misconduct related to violations of the RCS Employee Use of Social Media and Personal Websites policy.”
O’Brien says she and other educators have previously made political posts online.
She was only disciplined, however, over her posts involving Kirk, according to the complaint.
The complaint also says that members of the Rutherford County Board of Education have publicly expressed positive views of Kirk.
“Defendants targeted not only the content of (O’Brien’s) speech, but also a specific viewpoint. While Defendants themselves have engaged in speech supporting Mr. Kirk, they have silenced Plaintiff for appearing to disagree with that point of view.”
Several educators have been fired from schools and universities nationwide in connection with comments on Kirk’s death, ABC News reported.
Many of these individuals, like O’Brien, are suing over their terminations, according to ABC News.
With her lawsuit, O’Brien is seeking reinstatement, an award of back pay and benefits, and an unspecified amount in damages.
Rutherford County is about a 40-mile drive southeast from Nashville.
.jpg)