Professor Wins $2M Court Payout After Republicans Tried To Get Her Fired Over Posting Online About Charlie Kirk's Death

A University of Tennessee professor sacked over a Facebook comment about Charlie Kirk's assassination will collect roughly £1.5 million ($1.9 million) to end a First Amendment lawsuit that reached into donor money and Republican political pressure.

Tamar Shirinian, a former assistant professor of anthropology at the Knoxville campus, sued the university's most senior leaders after she was placed on leave and later dismissed. The University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees approved the payout on 30 June 2026, though the deal does not return her to the classroom.

She had argued that the school punished her for private speech after conservative lawmakers and at least one major donor pushed for her removal.

A Facebook Comment That Set Off a Firing

The dispute began on 12 September 2025, two days after Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Commenting on a friend's private Facebook post, Shirinian wrote that the 'world is better off without him in it.' described Kirk as a 'disgusting psychopath' and disparaged his widow, Erika.

The comment was captured and shared widely online, and calls for her dismissal followed quickly. Shirinian's academic work had focused on queer theory, feminist anthropology, and transnational feminisms, a profile that made her a visible target once the post spread through conservative networks. She later said she had received a wave of abusive messages, including racial slurs and demands that she 'go back to your country of origin.'

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville moved fast. System President Randy Boyd announced an investigation, and Chancellor Donde Plowman placed Shirinian on administrative leave on 15 September 2025 and began termination proceedings. Shirinian later apologised in a letter to Plowman, calling her words 'ineloquent and heartless' and condemning political violence, while maintaining that she had not endorsed it.

Plowman finalised the firing on 11 February 2026, citing misconduct and telling Shirinian she had failed to meet the university's expectations of mutual respect. In the termination letter, the chancellor wrote that Shirinian's words 'celebrated a gruesome murder' and demeaned the grief of Kirk's widow and children, a characterisation the professor rejected. A jury trial had been set for January 2027 before the two sides reached terms.

Republican Pressure and a Donor's Ten Million Dollar Threat

Shirinian's lawsuit, first filed in October 2025, argued that the university retaliated against protected speech made on a personal account with no tie to her job. The complaint stated that, 'upon information and belief, Republican politicians and lawmakers put pressure on UTK and Chancellor Plowman to retaliate and punish Dr. Shirinian for speaking negatively about Mr. Kirk.' It further alleged that Plowman acted partly out of fear that the university could face financial consequences from a Republican governor and legislature.

Two Republican officials had publicly tied themselves to the case. US Rep. Tim Burchett reposted screenshots of Shirinian's comment and said he was 'on it' and had 'delivered the message,' while state Rep. Jason Zachary said he had spoken with President Boyd. In a second amended complaint filed on 27 March 2026, Shirinian added Burchett and state Rep. Chris Todd as defendants, accusing Todd of sending a letter demanding her firing and describing both men as a 'conduit through which political and donor pressure was transmitted' to university leaders.

The filing also named an anonymous donor as 'John Doe #1.' According to the complaint, the donor allegedly used 'coercive economic pressure' by threatening to withdraw a $10 million estate gift to the university's engineering department unless Shirinian was removed. She had sought to compel disclosure of the donor's identity through the litigation.

The 39-page complaint set her comment against Kirk's own record, pointing to his remarks about women, Black Americans and the LGBTQ+ community, and noting that during a visit to the Knoxville campus, he had called for the university to be defunded and for liberal professors to be fired. The lawsuit also accused the university of inconsistency, arguing it had previously allowed far-right figures to hold events on campus while moving swiftly against her. Running alongside the case, Republican state lawmakers advanced a bill handing university leaders more direct power to dismiss faculty, legislation that critics said effectively wrote Plowman's approach into state law.

A Settlement Without Reinstatement

The Audit and Compliance Committee of the UT Board of Trustees approved the tentative agreement on 29 June 2026, and the full board signed off the following day. The deal pays Shirinian $1.9 million but does not restore her post, and it still requires approval from Governor Bill Lee and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. A final court filing ending the case is due by 28 August 2026, according to Knox News, which first reported the settlement. Shirinian had earlier been denied a restraining order that would have returned her to teaching, and a state administrative appeal of her firing had also been under way.

Board Chair John Compton framed the decision as a financial calculation rather than a concession. He said continuing litigation 'would require significant time and attention, and financial resources,' which were 'better directed toward advancing the institution's mission.' Shirinian's attorney, Robb Bigelow, said his client was pleased that the parties had reached a resolution, and Shirinian told local station WBIR she was 'very pleased with the outcome.'

Her case did not stand alone in Tennessee. Austin Peay State University reinstated professor Darren Michael in January 2026 and paid him $500,000 after he sued over a firing tied to a Kirk-related post, and a Tennessee man jailed over a Facebook post about the killing later agreed to an $835,000 settlement. The $1.9 million paid to Shirinian is roughly double the total paid to others disciplined over posts about the shooting.

A comment typed in grief and anger has cost a public university nearly two million dollars and left a lasting marker of how far political pressure can reach into a state campus.