Candice Hale, an English lecturer at Auburn University, is suing the school after being fired for posting about not mourning oppressors after Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September.
According to a lawsuit filed by Hale in federal court on Wednesday, Hale was told by Auburn University officials that they wanted to “end her employment” and that they would give her three weeks to consider a severance agreement.
Auburn University president Christopher Roberts announced in September that it was terminating multiple employees for anti-Charlie Kirk posts after his assassination.
According to the lawsuit, Hale posted on Facebook one day after Kirk’s assassination that she “does not mourn the wicked” and “we are getting closer and closer to the real assignment.”
An attorney representing Hale said the post wasn’t a threat of violence.
“Candice Hale exercised her right to speak on matters of public concern, the death of Charlie Kirk, a political figure—expression that lies at the core of the First Amendment—and was subsequently terminated for doing so. Such retaliation cuts to the heart of democratic principles, where open discourse and the free exchange of ideas are essential to the preservation of liberty and justice,” Kira Fontenau, an attorney representing Hale, said in the lawsuit.
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