A tenured professor who was briefly fired by Austin Peay State University in Tennessee in September for what the school’s president said was an insensitive social media post about the killing of Charlie Kirk will get a $500,000 settlement and his job back.
The abrupt firing, which the university acknowledged soon afterward had violated the professor’s due-process rights, was made after the professor’s post drew a backlash from conservatives, including Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee.
The institution, which is a public school based in Clarksville, Tenn., about 45 miles northwest of Nashville, backtracked less than two weeks later, placing the professor on a paid suspension for the rest of the fall semester while it pursued his termination.
The professor, Darren Michael, 56, who teaches acting and directing, was reinstated on Dec. 30 as part of the settlement with the university, which ended a more than three-month dispute over his employment.
“It was a very, very traumatic circumstance for him and his family,” David L. King, Professor Michael’s lawyer, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
University officials confirmed Professor Michael’s reinstatement, but declined to comment further on the settlement on Wednesday. They did not dispute the financial terms.
The details of the settlement, which was obtained by The New York Times, were first reported by the Nashville television station WKRN. Tennessee’s governor, attorney general and comptroller all approved the settlement, helping the state university avert potential litigation in the wrongful-termination dispute.
The controversy recalled several other prominent instances of academic institutions and companies punishing employees for their public remarks after the death of Mr. Kirk, a right-wing activist and ally of President Trump who was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Weighing in on Mr. Kirk’s assassination in a Facebook post on Sept. 12, Professor Michael shared a Newsweek article from 2023 that included a quote from Mr. Kirk about the importance of upholding the right to bear arms.
The article was published about a week after a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville left six people dead, including three children. The headline read: “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth It to Keep 2nd Amendment.”
His post inflamed some conservatives, including Ms. Blackburn, who is Tennessee’s senior U.S. senator and a candidate for governor in the state. She drew attention to a screenshot of it on Facebook on Sept. 12.
“What do you say, Austin Peay State University,?” Ms. Blackburn wrote, tagging the school.
Later that day, Professor Michael received an email from the university’s president, Michael Licari, telling him that he had been terminated effective immediately.
“This decision is being made due to recent social media posts that have caused significant reputational damage to the university,” Dr. Licari wrote in the letter, which was also obtained by The Times.
It was not clear what other posts Dr. Licari was referring to.
In a separate statement at the time, Dr. Licari said Professor Michael’s Facebook post was “disrespectful and interpreted by many as propagating justification for unlawful death,” the news site Clarksville Now reported.
“Such actions do not align with Austin Peay’s commitment to mutual respect and human dignity,” the statement continued.
Mr. King, Professor Michael’s lawyer, said the post was not inappropriate.
“All he did was repost the same thing that Mr. Kirk had said,” Mr. King said, adding that the university appeared to have been influenced by political pressure. “I don’t think that Austin Peay and its leadership acted independently.”
Ms. Blackburn’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Neither did Turning Point USA, the grass-roots conservative group Mr. Kirk founded.
Mr. King said Professor Michael was eager to return to teaching.
“He’s been agonizing over being able to provide for his students during this time,” he said.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
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