Docs: Ball State employee accuses university of wrongful termination following Charlie Kirk post

INDIANAPOLIS — A former Ball State University employee is suing the school’s president after she said she was wrongfully terminated after a recent Facebook post surrounding the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

Suzanne Swierc, the university’s former director of health promotion and advocacy, filed the lawsuit in Indianapolis federal court on Monday against Geoffrey Mearns, the president of Ball State University. The lawsuit claims that the university violated Swierc’s First Amendment right to free speech.

According to previous reports, Swierc made a post on her Facebook page following Kirk’s death, stating that “although Charlie Kirk’s death was a tragedy and although she prays for his soul, his death is a reflection of the hatred, fear and violence that he sowed.”

“Let me be clear: if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends,” the post read. “His death is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for his wife and children. I believe in the Resurrection and while it’s difficult, I can and do pray for his soul.”

Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while he was participating in an event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk’s memorial service was hosted on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.

The lawsuit claims that the post was “clearly an opinion on a controversial subject” and is protected by the First Amendment. Officials said that this makes her firing unconstitutional.

According ot the lawsuit, officials claim that Swierc’s social media page was set to private when the post was made, allowing only her friends to be able to see the post. Someone reportedly obtained a screenshot of the post, linked Swierc to her position at Ball State University and shared it on public-facing social media sites, as well as the “Eyes on Education” portal established by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.

Since it was added to the public-facing portal, Rokita posted the image to his social media pages. After it was publicly posted, the lawsuit claims that Swierc received calls, texts and voicemails from “strangers harassing her about the contents of the image that was circulating.” This included a message suggesting that Swierc should “get what Charlie Kirk got.”

On Sept. 15, the lawsuit states that Swierc had a meeting with university officials, where they said they would investigate whether the post “would be considered speech made by Ms. Swierc in her private or employee capacity.” The lawsuit claims that potential discipline was not discussed during the meeting.

Just two days later, Swierc had another meeting with university officials where she was ultimately terminated from her position. This included a termination letter, signed by Mearns, with the Facebook post being the cause of termination. The university told Swierc that there was no possibility of challenging or appealing the termination.

“Her Facebook post had nothing to do with her employment and was in no way critical of her superiors or their stated policies,” the lawsuit read. “…Ms. Swierc’s Facebook post was made as a private citizen and not pursuant to any professional duties or responsibilities that she had as an employee of Ball State University.”

Ultimately, Swierc is requesting in the lawsuit that the university to expunge all records of the termination, including records in her personnel file, as well as relief after she reportedly suffered emotional and financial damages following the termination.

“People do not forfeit their First Amendment rights when they are hired by government institutions,” Stevie Pactor, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Indiana, said in a statement surrounding the lawsuit. “Public employees are free to speak on matters of public concern, so long as they are speaking as private citizens. Swierc’s Facebook post clearly meets these criteria, and her termination was unconstitutional.”