A professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville was rewarded $1.9 million in a settlement Monday for wrongful termination by the university after making negative statements about Turning Point USA Founder, Charlie Kirk, around the time of his death.
Tamar Shirinian, a professor of anthropology, issued a series of statements on Facebook welcoming the death of Kirk. In the context of his assassination, Shrinian stated the following in reference to Kirk and his family.
“The world is better off without him in it,” the professor wrote. “Even those who are claiming to be sad for his wife and kids …. like, his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she’s a sick f**k for marrying him so I don’t care about her feelings.”
Shrinian was fired in February. Her termination letter explained the damage wrought by her posts.
“Your words celebrated a gruesome murder, which horrifically took place on a college campus similar to our own, and then went on to callously demean 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.”
Shrinian sued several major university officials thereafter, claiming that the speech for which she was fired is protected by the First Amendment.
According to The Washington Post, “John Compton, the chair of the University of Tennessee board, said at Monday’s meeting that any continuing litigation would require significant time, attention and financial resources, and those resources would be better directed toward advancing the institution’s mission, vision and values.”
Despite the settlement, UT Knoxville will not bring Shrinian back as a faculty member.
