What's different about the Charlie Kirk firings
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Companies are reacting to pressure from Republican officials and right-wing activists and quickly firing anyone who attempts to justify or minimize the killing of Charlie Kirk — or even criticize the slain conservative activist.
Why it matters: These firings could be legal, lawyers say, but they demonstrate fast-changing norms around free speech that many find troubling.
- They also signify an increased vigilance among employers when it comes to workers' social media posts.
Where it stands: Dozens of such terminations have been publicly reported at media companies, airlines, sports teams and federal agencies.
- In the public sector, teachers, government workers and community officials have also been fired or put on leave in recent days due to their commentary on the violence.
Zoom in: Delta Air Lines, United and American Airlines suspended workers over the weekend for their social media activity.
- "Employees who promote such violence on social media were immediately removed from service," American Airlines said in a statement. "We will continue to initiate action with team members who display this kind of behavior."
- "We've been clear with our customers and employees that there's zero tolerance for politically motivated violence or any attempt to justify it," said United Airlines.
Between the lines: Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, employers have put out much more detailed policies outlining what workers can do on social media — including language that requires employees to abide by company values and restricts them from inciting violence.
- "These situations are very fact specific and really depend on what the individual said and the context in which they said it. It also depends on what the social media policies the individual's employer has," Ellen Davis, senior managing director at August, told Axios.
- Davis added that condoning or calling for violence is typically grounds for termination. "And if companies don't have clear social media policies by now, they should," she said.
Reality check: This isn't new — employers in the past have fired workers for social media posts, both left- and right-leaning, that were deemed unacceptable.
- "Lots of people have been terminated for their positions, their political positions, and speech," says Ryan Hancock, an employment lawyer at Willig, Williams & Davidson.
The big picture: In the U.S., most employment in the private sector is "at will," meaning companies can fire workers for any reason that isn't clearly discriminatory — terminating someone because of their race or gender or age.
- Some states, including California and Colorado, have laws that prohibit companies from firing people for their political speech.
- Union contracts also may include some prohibitions — though in the federal government, the White House has canceled contracts for hundreds of thousands of employees.
"The robust free speech protections that we think of in this country are somewhat lesser in the context of employer-employee relationships," says G.S. Hans, a professor at Cornell Law School who focuses on the First Amendment.
- That's even true in the public sector — the Supreme Court has said that employees surrender some free speech rights to take government employment, notes David Super, an administrative law expert at Georgetown Law.
Zoom out: Still, typically employers have been more hesitant to act — held back by norms around free speech. And, typically, government officials don't pressure or threaten workers — that's the most concerning piece of what's happening now, say constitutional lawyers.
- "It seems quite at odds with what we think about as being the free speech tradition of a country," says Hans. "That's not an absolute protection, but it's certainly a cultural one."
Reality check: Employers have all the power in these situations, says Hancock.
- Whether or not these firings pass legal muster depends on what happens after the firing — whether workers challenge these actions in court and if state protections, or others, apply.
Between the lines: In the case of federal workers, challenges are going to be tough.
- Their complaints of wrongful firings are supposed to go before an agency called the Merit Systems Protections Board, but at the moment it can't hear cases because the White House has fired some of its members.
- "Trump officials can fire government employees for openly political grounds knowing that their actions are not subject to review," says Georgetown's Super.
What to watch: Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the crackdown on outspoken employees, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity, "It's free speech, but you shouldn't be employed anywhere if you're going to say that."
- "And employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people. You need to look at people who are saying horrible things. And they shouldn't be working with you."
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional details.
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