Workers fired, placed on leave for Charlie Kirk comments after assassination

The killing of Charlie Kirk is sparking debate about political violence in the U.S., as well as the kinds of professional repercussions employees who speak out about the conservative activist's death — and other hot- button issues — might face.

A number of businesses and other organizations have shown employees the door this week because of their public remarks about Kirk, who was assassinated on Wednesday while giving a speech at Utah Valley University. Among those to lose their jobs or face other sanctions: a political pundit, a university employee, a sports reporter and a U.S. secret service agent.

Private employers have the law on their side when it comes to removing a worker who makes public statements that the business views as potentially harmful, according to legal experts.

"A private company can generally fire an employee for public comments, even political ones, if those comments are deemed to harm the company's reputation, violate workplace policy or disrupt the business," workplace attorney Marjorie Mesidor told CBS MoneyWatch.

Employees in a range of industries, as well as in academia, are finding themselves in hot water over remarks they made about Kirk's death or his political beliefs.

PHNX Sports, an online sports news site focused on Arizona, announced the firing of reporter Gerald Bourguet after he said on social media on Wednesday, in a since-deleted post, that "Refusing to mourn a life devoted to that cause is not the same thing as celebrating gun violence."

"Truly don't care if you think it's insensitive or poor timing to decline to respect an evil man who died," he added.

Bourguet declined to comment when reached by CBS MoneyWatch.

MSNBC said it cut ties with analyst Matthew Dowd after he said in an on-air conversation that Kirk had pushed incendiary speech and that "hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions." In a public statement, Comcast accused Dowd of making "an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event."

"That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately, with respect. We need to do better," Comcast executives said.

Dowd, the former chief strategist for Republican President George W. Bush, apologized in a Substack post on Friday, saying he hadn't meant to imply Kirk was to blame for the violence that killed him, the AP reported. But Dowd, a long-time political analyst at ABC News before joining MSNBC in 2022, also accused the network of caving to pressure to fire him.

"The right wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob," he wrote on Substack. "Even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the timing of my words forgotten ... and that I apologized for any miscommunication on my part, I was terminated by the end of the day."

Middle Tennessee State University said in statement that it had fired a university employee over "inappropriate and callous comments on social media concerning the horrific and tragic murder of Charlie Kirk."

Nasdaq, in a statement posted on X, said it dismissed an employee over social media posts related to Kirk's shooting that the stock exchange said "were a clear violation of our policy."

In a Facebook post, the U.S. Secret Service said it placed an agent who it said expressed negative opinions about Kirk on leave. "The U.S. Secret Service will not tolerate behavior that violates our code of conduct. This employee was immediately put on administrative leave, and an investigation has begun," a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement.

United Airlines told CBS News that it took action against employees who the company said had publicly commented on Kirk's death. "Our mission at United Airlines is to connect people and unite the world. So we've been clear with our customers and employees that there's zero tolerance for politically motivated violence or any attempt to justify it," the carrier said in a statement to CBS News.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy applauded United for "for doing what's right by placing pilots celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk out of service. They must be fired," in a statement on X.

"There's no room for political violence in America and anyone applauding it will face the consequences. ESPECIALLY those we count on to ensure the safety of the flying public," Duffy wrote.

First Amendment protections are generally limited for workers in the private sector, according to attorneys.

"Employers often have a strong legal basis to terminate an employee if their public comments, especially on a high-profile and sensitive topic like a murder, cause reputational damage or customer backlash," Mesidor said.

Some states — California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina and West Virginia — do have laws to protect employees from being fired for their conduct off the job, including their political speech and activity, but most do not. Maynard Nexsen attorney Andrew Kragie told CBS MoneyWatch that workers at private employers typically have little protection from punishment for their public comments.

"If someone says, 'Thank goodness this person was assassinated,' then generally their employer can fire them," he said. That's because most workers are employed at-will, meaning either party can terminate the contract at any time, for any reason, he explained.

"So, most employees in the private sector can be disciplined based on what you say on social media, even if your account doesn't identify you as an employee," Kragie added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.