ROCHESTER, N.Y. – In the days following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, several people in the Rochester area have faced disciplinary actions from their jobs for comments made on social media about his death. News10NBC reported on at least four instances involving local school districts.

Hilton Schools says they addressed the issue with a staff member, while the Greece Central School District said an employee is facing “appropriate disciplinary action.” At the Naples Central School District and Le Roy Central School District, two teachers are now on leave due to their comments.

Jared Cook, an employment lawyer with the Tully Rinckey law firm, explained that employers can fire employees for any reason and that free speech rights do not protect employees from private employers.

“Generally speaking, your employer can fire you for any reason. They don’t have to justify it. You know, you really don’t have free speech rights against your employer,” Cook said.

Cook says government employees have some free speech rights, but within a school context, governments have more leeway to regulate employee speech.

“Now it’s a little bit different. If you were employed by the government, if you are a government employee, you do have free speech rights,” Cook said. “Now, it’s also important to understand that within the school context, governments get a bit more leeway to regulate their employees’ speech, because the idea is that the government is in the shoes of the parents, so to speak. At...

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