Georgia teacher disciplined over Charlie Kirk posts and school district reach settlement in federal lawsuit

A former Georgia Teacher of the Year finalist has reached a settlement with her school district after she claimed she was punished for making social media comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

English teacher Michelle Mickens had sued the Oglethorpe County School District in 2025, claiming she was placed on leave and asked to either resign or be terminated because she discussed Kirk's political positions on her private Facebook page.

On Friday, the Southern Poverty Law Center and it co-counsel announced that Mickens and the school district have reached a settlement.

Teacher claims Charlie Kirk post led to punishment

According to the complaint, Mickens posted a direct quote from Kirk hours after his assassination on her private account, which she claims was only viewable by close friends.

"I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.- Charlie Kirk," the post read.

The next day, Mickens says she was called to the office, where she was informed the school has received a complaint from someone over the post. She later learned from a friend that a former classmate had taken a screenshot of her post and shared it publicly on X, calling on readers to contact the principal at her school.

When she later spoke to the principal and the school superintendent, Mickens says they suggested she delete the post and issue an apology, but she told them that she wanted to consult her attorney before responding. The next school week, she was asked to remain home and found out her access to school emails had been removed.

Mickens had worked in Georgia high schools for 24 years and had been a finalist for the 2022 Georgia Teacher of the Year. The complaint says that she had never received a formal complaint about her professional conduct before this incident.

When reached for comment at the time of the lawsuit's filing, a spokesperson for the school district said that some of the facts in the case were "inaccurate or incomplete" but chose not to give specifics due to the pending litigation.

A confidential settlement is reached

In her lawsuit, Mickens had asked the court to restore her job and remove any reference to policy violations. The settlement that was reached remains confidential, and it is not clear whether Mickens will return to work at her former school.

"We are pleased to reach a mutually amicable settlement of this matter," said Sam Boyd, the SPLC's senior supervising attorney. "As courts across the country have recognized in other cases involving firings over comments about Charlie Kirk, and many other topics, 'public school employees, including teachers, have a constitutionally protected right to free speech.'"

After the settlement was agreed upon, a motion to dismiss the case was sent to the court on Wednesday.