Cudahy school employee on leave for comments about Charlie Kirk’s death, UW-Madison expert shares free speech limits

In a conversation that sparked a significant discussion online, an employee in the Cudahy School District posted on Facebook in response to Kirk’s death with comments “Karma is rough’’ and “FAFO,” an internet acronym with an expletive used to warn that bad behavior will lead to consequences.

Kari Durr, the president of the Cudahy School Board, said comments were not posted during school hours and do not reflect the views of the district. According to the district’s employee handbook, the school board acknowledges the right of its staff members to speak out on issues of public concern. However, the handbook says when those issues are related to the district, the employee’s expression must be ‘balanced against the interests of the district.’

“Our number one priority here is to teach students in Cudahy and to assure their safety and to foster a safe and inclusive learning environment,” Durr said. “What we can’t have is social media posts compromising any of those things.”

Angelica Spaulding, a parent in the district, says the employee in question is a teacher at Cudahy Middle School. 

“Nobody should be celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk right now. One thousand percent,” Spaulding said. “What is going on is not right.”

Spaulding said she showed up to the Cudahy Middle School grounds on Monday, Sept. 15, looking to speak with district administrators about the situation. She was handed a notice from school leaders about when she could set up a meeting about the matter. Durr said district leaders are open to setting up individual meetings with parents concerned about the matter.

In the days after the shooting that killed Kirk, numerous workers in the private and public sector have been fired for their comments on his death.

Franciska Coleman, an assistant professor of constitutional and first amendment law at UW-Madison, has published work about the social regulation of free speech in the United States. She said the fact that some of these cases are connected to Kirk impacts their visibility.

"This kind of idea of people being fired by employers is not necessarily rare," Coleman said. "Charlie Krik is a person who was very vocal about first amendment, he viewed himself as embodying that. I think many of his supporters and followers and friends on the right also view him as a free speech icon, and so you're going to get a lot more publicity around this issue." 

Coleman said government employers can discipline a worker if they determine such conduct will interfere with the government’s ability to do its job.

“Sometimes things outside of the classroom can impact things on campus," Coleman said. 

In the case of the Cudahy employee, Coleman said the code of conduct could be up to interpretation if it ever went to court. 

“That language is a little vague, so the teacher doesn’t know what the school would consider 'against their interest.' My sense is that a court might view that narrowly," Coleman said. "Would [the employee] expect a Facebook comment would be against the school? It seems that it's too broad." 

While the Cudahy School District employee is placed on administrative leave, Spaulding said she believes the educator should face further consequences.

“He should be immediately fired,” Spaulding said. “He should have a public apology for all of Cudahy."