A settlement worth nearly $2 million is headed to a former University of Tennessee professor who lost her job after posting comments celebrating the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees signed off on the $1.9 million payout Monday, closing out a legal fight that began after the school moved to discipline and ultimately terminate assistant professor Tamar Shirinian.
Local outlet Knox News broke the story of the board’s decision, revealing the size of the settlement for the first time.
Kirk was gunned down on September 10 while addressing a crowd during his “American Comeback Tour” stop at Utah Valley University.
Shirinian responded to news of his death by branding him a “disgusting psychopath” in a social media post.
Part of her post read, “The world is better off without him in it.”
She did not stop there, writing that Kirk’s “kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she’s a sick f— for marrying him so I dont [sic] care about her feelings.”
University officials responded by placing her on administrative leave shortly after the post surfaced online.
Facing mounting scrutiny, Shirinian later apologized, calling her own words “insensitive” and “uncharacteristic of me as a person.”
The apology did not save her job. On February 11, the university terminated her employment outright.
Chancellor Donde Plowman spelled out the university’s reasoning in a termination letter sent to Shirinian that month.
Plowman told her that her “words celebrated a gruesome murder, which horrifically took place on a college campus similar to our own,” and accused her of having “callously demean[ed] the grief and loss felt by the widow and young children of the victim while also mocking any grief felt by others who sympathized with the surviving family.”
Shirinian pushed back against her firing by filing a lawsuit alleging the university had trampled on her constitutional rights when it disciplined her over the posts.
That legal battle has now concluded with Monday’s settlement, though the resolution comes with a catch: Shirinian will not get her job back, according to Knox News.
Her attorney, Robb Bigelow, characterized the outcome as a positive one for his client in comments sent to Knox News.
“My client is pleased that the parties reached a resolution,” Bigelow wrote. “Litigation is always difficult, and we’re grateful to everyone on both sides who worked diligently to bring this matter to a close.”
Bigelow added that the settlement “reflects the seriousness of the issues while allowing everyone to move forward,” and closed by saying, “We wish the University nothing but success in the future.”
For its part, the University of Tennessee System kept its public comments brief when reached by Fox News Digital.
A university spokesperson said only, “We do not have a comment outside of what was publicly said in the board meeting yesterday,” directing inquiries to a recording of that meeting.
The payout stands as one of the largest known settlements tied to fallout from reactions to Kirk’s assassination among university employees nationwide.
Kirk’s death sparked fierce debate across college campuses and beyond, with numerous employers grappling over how to handle staff who publicly celebrated or mocked his killing.
As a nationally recognized conservative youth organizer, Kirk had built a reputation for engaging directly with students on campuses across the country before his death cut that mission short.
His assassination at Utah Valley University sent shockwaves through conservative circles and reignited national arguments over the limits of free speech for employees at taxpayer-funded institutions.
Shirinian’s case became a flashpoint in that broader argument, pitting claims of protected speech against a university’s authority to police the conduct of its faculty.
With the settlement finalized, both sides have indicated they are ready to put the dispute behind them, even as the underlying tensions over the episode remain unresolved.
The board’s vote to approve the payment effectively brings the litigation to a close, though Shirinian’s departure from the university is permanent.
