{"id":3323,"date":"2026-07-15T16:06:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3323"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:06:53","slug":"former-gaston-county-teacher-sues-after-district-fired-her-over-charlie-kirk-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3323","title":{"rendered":"Former Gaston County teacher sues after district fired her over Charlie Kirk post"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former Gaston County Schools teacher has filed a federal lawsuit against the district, alleging it violated her First Amendment rights when it fired her over a Facebook post about conservative activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n

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The district dismissed Holly Ackerman, who taught special needs students, in November due to a post she made on her personal Facebook page about Kirk\u2019s death. Kirk was assassinated at a speaking event in Utah on Sept. 10.<\/p>\n

Ackerman\u2019s lawsuit, filed in federal court Tuesday, alleges her social media comment had \u201cno impact\u201d on her teaching or the district\u2019s ability to educate students. It also argues the district violated her right to free speech.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s the latest of several educators around the country suing over their terminations related to posts about Charlie Kirk. Early this month, the University of Tennessee System reached a nearly $2 million settlement<\/u><\/a> with a former professor who was terminated following comments she made about Kirk\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n

Ackerman is suing Gaston County Schools, the members of the Gaston County Board of Education and Superintendent Morgen Houchard. She is seeking compensatory damages for lost wages, plus attorney\u2019s fees.<\/p>\n

The district did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Ackerman commented \u201cI can\u2019t believe people are actually mourning this douchebag,\u201d on a Sept. 10 post containing some of Kirk\u2019s previous statements regarding gun violence and the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

She believed her comment was only visible to her Facebook friends, the complaint alleges. A screenshot of her post began circulating via social media, and Ackerman deleted the comment after receiving \u201can onslaught of texts and Facebook messages from people she did not know throughout the evening,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n

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A screenshot of the post was shared on X by popular conservative social media account LibsofTikTok, The Charlotte Observer previously reported<\/u><\/a>. By the next afternoon, over 2.3 million had viewed it.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 23, Houchard, the district\u2019s superintendent, gave written notice to Ackerman he was recommending her dismissal due to the Facebook post, the lawsuit states. He alleged the post \u201chas caused and continues to cause significant disruption in the regular and efficient operation of the school and district-at-large.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was terminated Nov. 7.<\/p>\n

Ackerman was not the only Charlotte-area educator to be investigated for online comments about Kirk\u2019s death. A former teacher at Lake Norman Charter in Huntersville was placed on leave<\/u><\/a> for his own post about Kirk before the school later confirmed he was no longer employed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a comprehensive investigation that the gravity of this situation called for, we announced to our school stakeholders that the staff member who posted inappropriate social media content in relation to the Charlie Kirk killing is no longer employed by Lake Norman Charter,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether the employee was fired or resigned, and a school spokesperson told The Observer they could not discuss personnel matters.<\/p>\n

Read more NC Senate candidate: Charlotte needs to reverse course on I-77 project | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Gaston County teacher sued the school district claiming her firing over a Facebook comment about Charlie Kirk violated her First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Gaston County teacher sues after district fired her over Charlie Kirk post - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3323\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Gaston County teacher sues after district fired her over Charlie Kirk post - 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