A former Ball State University employee has settled her lawsuit against the Muncie school for firing her over a social media post about Charlie Kirk’s death.
Suzanne Swierc was Director of Health Promotion and Advocacy for Ball State, until she was fired on September 17 of last year. That’s after her private Facebook post calling conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death a “tragedy” but also pointing to “violence, fear, and hatred he sowed” was shared publicly by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.
Now Swierc and Ball State have reached a settlement in a lawsuit she filed later that month.
Neither side has divulged the details from a settlement conference on Tuesday and say they cannot do so. The settlement still needs to be accepted by the court and the matter formally dismissed.
In announcing her lawsuit in September, Swierc said she did not regret her post and would not take back what she wrote.
“I believe that I, along with every other person in this country, have First Amendment rights, and to be able to speak on a number of things,” she said.
Ball State contended her post was not protected by the Constitution. In a statement, Ball State also said her post “caused significant disruption to the University” and was inconsistent with her leadership position. Stevie Pactor with the ACLU of Indiana said Swierc didn’t create the disruption herself, but those like Rokita who amplified it online did.
“She is not the one who widely disseminated this post,” Pactor said. “And of course, it wasn’t only the attorney general of the state of Indiana that did, but he certainly did.”
Read More: Muncie human rights commission president resigns over Charlie Kirk comments
Attorney General Todd Rokita was not named in the lawsuit.
This week, a Ball State spokesperson called the settlement “successful.”
In the lawsuit, Swierc was not asking for her job back, with her lawyer saying she didn’t feel like she could work at Ball State again.
Also in September, Ball State said it was investigating a post about Charlie Kirk’s death from a second university employee.
That employee tells IPR she proved her claim her social media account had been hacked and she did not write the post herself. Because Ball State did not name her in its statement and the investigation ended with no disciplinary action, IPR is not naming her. She continues to work for Ball State.
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.
