Eastern Florida State College has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by former employee Erika Santos, who said the school violated her First Amendment rights by firing her over Facebook posts about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The settlement resolves Santos' claim that the college punished her for expressing political views on her private social media account. The agreement covers damages and attorney fees. Santos also agreed that she would not apply for or seek another job at the college.
Santos filed her lawsuit in November 2025 after Eastern Florida State College dismissed her following an investigation into posts she made after Kirk was fatally shot at a university event in Utah in September 2025. She argued that the posts had nothing to do with her work as a grant accountant and that her firing amounted to unlawful punishment for her views.
The college has continued to defend its decision. Spokesperson Mark Levitt said the school denies wrongdoing and maintains that Santos' online activity conflicted with its mission, employee standards, and policies.
The agreement, signed on October 22, 2026, brings the dispute to a close without the college admitting that it violated the law.
The case is part of a wider national debate over how public universities and other government employers respond when workers make controversial political statements outside the workplace. Since Kirk's killing, several employees at colleges and other public institutions have faced disciplinary action over online comments about his death.
Santos said the college's response to an anonymous complaint about her private posts raised concerns about the protection of free speech.
"EFSC firing me due to someone's anonymous submission about my private social media made it clear this was never about them putting their employees or students first," Santos said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
"Staying silent would have allowed them the opportunity to stand behind their own false narrative. Speaking up is how we protect our rights to free speech and everyday people, like me, deserve to understand that," she added.
The ACLU of Florida represented Santos in the case, alongside the employee rights law firm Kwall Barack Nadeau.
Lawsuit Centers on Private Facebook Posts
Santos worked as a grant accountant at Eastern Florida State College, a public college in Brevard County, Florida. Her dispute with the school began after an anonymous letter brought her Facebook activity to the attention of college administrators.
The letter raised concerns about posts in which Santos criticized Kirk's political views, including his positions on race, immigration, and abortion. The college then opened an investigation into her online activity.
According to the details cited in the lawsuit, Santos was suspended without pay on September 18, 2025, shortly after Kirk's death. The school later ended her employment in October.
A termination letter dated October 16, 2025, said the college believed her posts appeared to approve of or celebrate Kirk's killing, Yahoo reported.
"The investigation revealed that your comments appeared to condone if not celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk," the letter stated.
The college also described the posts as "repugnant, divisive, political in nature, and undermining public confidence in EFSC's ability to provide an educational environment free from discrimination based on political affiliation."
One post drew particular attention from an administrator. It included the phrase "Ten toes down," followed by a shrugging emoji and a statement inviting people to remove Santos from their social media connections. The post also shared an article from Feminist News and described Kirk as "anti-immigrant, anti-abortion, anti-woman's rights."
An administrator interpreted the wording as potentially approving of Kirk's death. Santos, however, argued that the posts were personal political expression and were unrelated to her responsibilities as a college employee.
Her lawsuit accused Eastern Florida State College of retaliation and discrimination based on the content and viewpoint of her speech. She argued that the First Amendment protected her right to express political opinions outside her work duties.
The complaint sought relief for what Santos described as an unconstitutional firing. The settlement later provided a financial payment rather than reinstatement, and the agreement bars her from seeking future employment at the college.
The case did not end with a court ruling deciding whether Santos' posts were protected speech or whether the college's reasons for firing her were lawful. Instead, the parties reached an agreement to resolve the dispute.
That distinction is important because a settlement does not necessarily mean either side has accepted the other's account of the events. The college continues to deny that it violated the law, while Santos has maintained that her rights were infringed.
The disagreement reflects a difficult question for public employers: how to respond when an employee's personal political speech causes complaints or concerns about the institution.
Public colleges have responsibilities to their students and are expected to follow workplace policies. At the same time, public institutions must consider constitutional limits when taking action against employees over speech.
Santos' lawsuit argued that the college crossed that line by using private Facebook posts as the reason for ending her employment.
Free Speech Settlement Adds to College Cases
The $250,000 agreement involving Eastern Florida State College is one of several legal disputes linked to employees' comments about Kirk after his assassination.
Kirk, a conservative political activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025. His death led to public debate, political reactions, and scrutiny of social media comments made by workers across the country.
Some employers investigated or disciplined staff members over statements they viewed as inappropriate. Those actions also raised questions about whether public workers could be punished for political opinions shared on personal accounts outside their jobs.
The cases that followed have involved different employers, posts, and legal claims. However, several workers have argued that their employers violated the First Amendment by firing them over political expression.
At Ball State University in Indiana, a former employee received a $225,000 settlement after bringing a lawsuit over her dismissal for controversial comments about Kirk's killing on her personal Facebook account.
According to TCF, a separate case involves a professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who called Kirk a "disgusting psychopath." She is set to receive $1.9 million under a tentative settlement intended to resolve her wrongful termination and First Amendment lawsuit.
Austin Peay State University in Tennessee also agreed to pay $500,000 in a case involving associate professor Darren Michael, who was fired over a social media post about Kirk. The university also apologized and reinstated Michael.
These cases have brought attention to the legal protections that may apply when public employees express views that their employers or members of the public find offensive.
The First Amendment limits the government's ability to restrict speech. But legal disputes involving public employees can depend on several factors, including what the employee said, whether the speech involved a matter of public concern, the employee's role, and whether the speech affected the employer's work.
The rules are not the same in every case, and a settlement in one dispute does not automatically decide the outcome of another.
Santos' lawsuit focused on her claim that her Facebook posts were personal political speech unrelated to her accounting duties.