A former University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK) assistant professor who was placed on administrative leave for comments she made after Charlie Kirk’s assassination received nearly $2 million to settle her wrongful termination lawsuit.
The UTK Board of Trustees’ Audit & Compliance Committee approved a $1.9 million settlement on Monday for Tamar Shirinian, who taught anthropology at the school, according to The Daily Beacon.
UTK suspended Shirinian (pictured above) following the comments she posted online after Kirk, a conservative activist, was killed at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.
Two days after Kirk died on September 10th, 2025, Shirinian said the “world is better off” without him.
“Even those who are claiming to be sad for his wife and kids,” wrote the professor, “his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath.” She then called Kirk’s widow a “sick f*** for marrying him.”
On September 15th, UTK began termination proceedings against Shirinian.
The associate professor then sued the school in October 2025, alleging the school had violated her First Amendment rights.
Shirinian’s lawsuit said she made the comments as a private citizen on her personal time and on her personal device without any reference to UTK.
“Shirinian’s comment involved matters of great public concern—the controversial political figure Mr. Charlie Kirk and his messages of hate, genocide apologia, sexism and bigotry,” the lawsuit stated.
“Whatever governmental needs UTK may have as a public employer, they are insufficient to justify gagging Dr. Shirinian’s private right to speak on these matters of great public concern,” it added.
Shirinian sought reinstatement as an associate professor at the school, but under the settlement, that will not happen.
In a statement to 10News, Shirinian said she was “very pleased with the outcome.”
Her attorney, Robb Bigelow, also told the outlet that “the settlement appropriately recognizes the seriousness of the issues presented while avoiding the time, expense, and stress of continued litigation.”
“We wish the University, its students, faculty, and staff nothing but success going forward,” he added.
Another school in Tennessee, Austin Peay State University (APSU), reinstated professor Darren Michael and paid him $500,000 after failing to properly follow the termination process for a tenured professor.
APSU sought to fire Michael for a social media post he made after Kirk’s death.
The theatre professor shared a screenshot on social media of a Newsweek headline saying, “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth it to Keep 2nd Amendment.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Tamar Shirinian” by the University of Tennessee.
