Former University of Mississippi employee Lauren Stokes filed a lawsuit against UM Chancellor Glenn Boyce on Tuesday. She is alleging wrongful termination from the university after she reposted comments regarding the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
In a lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Stokes claims that she has “suffered extreme emotional and financial damages, for which Boyce and the (u)niversity are liable.” She is requesting a jury trial and that Boyce pay compensatory and punitive fees, as well as her costs and attorneys’ fees.
Stokes, who had served as an executive assistant to the vice chancellor for development, alleges that Boyce violated the First Amendment in firing her for commentary that she reposted on her private social media account.
University Director of News and Media Relations Jacob Batte declined to comment to The Daily Mississippian on pending litigation.
The Daily Mississippian also was unable to obtain a comment from Stokes after her lawsuit was filed.
The lawsuit explains that at 5 p.m. on Sept. 10, the day Charlie Kirk was killed, Stokes came upon a post that she reposted on her private Instagram account.
The post described Kirk as a white supremacist and condemned positions he held on women’s health care, Second Amendment rights and race relations with which the author disagreed.
Stokes’ lawsuit further says that upon finding that the post had “offended someone,” Stokes promptly took down the repost, and at 9:30 p.m., she offered an apology on Instagram.
This secondary post offered condolences to any individuals offended by her post and noted the ideological diversity of her employees at her Oxford restaurant, Tarasque Cucina. Stokes said she made the initial post about Kirk in a “heated moment” and would take time offline to reflect on her actions.
The university placed her on leave at approximately 9 a.m. on Sept. 11. In the lawsuit, Stokes claims that she was counseled by the Department of Human Resources due to online attacks made regarding her initial post. This directed her to contact the Oxford Police Department to monitor her restaurant.
Around noon, the lawsuit alleges, Stokes was asked for her resignation by UM. Stokes attempted to speak with a lawyer but was notified around 12:50 p.m. that she had been fired.
At 1:10 p.m., Boyce sent an email to the UM community regarding the firing.
“Yesterday, a University of Mississippi staff member re-shared hurtful, insensitive comments on social media regarding the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk. These comments run completely counter to our institutional values of civility, fairness and respecting the dignity of each person. We condemn this action, and this staff member is no longer employed by the university. All of us have a responsibility to take seriously our commitment to upholding a civil and respectful campus environment. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kirk family, as well as members of our campus community who are affected by this senseless act of violence,” the email said.
Staff members at universities across the country were fired for cases similar to that of Stokes’, and many are also suing their university administrators in response.
A former director of health promotion and advocacy at Ball State University is suing the school’s president over being fired for posting that “Charlie Kirk’s death is a reflection of the violence, fear and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it’s a sad truth.”
In another instance, a former lecturer is suing multiple university administrators at Auburn University over being fired for posting “I do not mourn oppressors. I do not show them empathy. I don’t give a damn about evil racist, fascist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, mediocre white men who claim to be Christian and then do everything Christ would not do on Earth.”
Previous litigation regarding comments made about public figures have reiterated certain free speech protections that government employees have. After learning of the shooting and attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, a county constable’s clerk in Texas remarked “(s)hoot, if they go for him again, I hope they get him.”
The clerk brought a lawsuit against her employer for wrongful termination, claiming that her First Amendment rights were violated, and in 1987 the Supreme Court delivered a major decision in her favor as it was determined that the life or death of the president as a public figure was considered a matter of public concern. The Supreme Court also cited Connick V. Myers (1983) in its decision, stating that “(e)ven where a public employee’s speech does not touch upon a matter of public concern, that speech is not ‘totally beyond the protection of the First Amendment.’”
