Tue
Jun 30 2026
07:59 am
UT paying $2 million to fired professor?
By: bizgrrl

Various Tennessee officials/governments may end up paying more than $3.2 million in 2026 to cover invalid firings/arrests over comments about a conservative activist.

University of Tennessee System officials have approved a tentative agreement that would pay a former UT-Knoxville professor who was fired over comments she made in the wake of political activist ... assassination nearly $2 million.

The professor claimed that her 1st Amendment rights were violated.

Austin Peay State University in Clarksville reinstated a professor in January and paid him a $500,000 settlement after he sued over his firing over comments he made about the conservative activist.

Tennessee officials will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was jailed for more than a month over a Facebook post he made about the assassination of the conservative activist.

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yellowdog's picture

UT is apparently proud

Submitted by yellowdog on Tue, 2026/06/30 - 11:56am.

of trampling on the First Amendment. It is too bad future students at UT will not get to study with her and that other cowed schools will not hire her.

bizgrrl's picture

From the New York Times, It's

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2026/07/01 - 7:42am.

From the New York Times, It's a done deal.

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has agreed to pay $1.9 million to a former professor who was fired for a private Facebook post denigrating Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated, the latest in a series of legal settlements offered to employees dismissed or reprimanded after criticizing the conservative activist.

Tamar Shirinian, who was an anthropology professor at the university, sued the school and several top officials last year. She claimed that the university had violated her constitutional rights by penalizing her for comments that were made privately and protected by the First Amendment. Robb Bigelow, a Nashville-based lawyer who represented Ms. Shirinian, confirmed the settlement in an interview on Tuesday.

The settlement was approved on Monday during a meeting of the audit and compliance committee of the university’s board of trustees. Continuing the litigation would have required significant time and money — resources “better directed toward advancing the institution’s mission, vision and values,” the board chair John Compton said during the meeting.

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