Judge rules in favor of teacher facing dismissal for Charlie Kirk-related posts

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Creston Community School District from moving forward with plans to fire a teacher for her comments regarding the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Last month, Melisa Crook, a high school English teacher from Creston, was informed that she was facing termination for a social media comment regarding Kirk.

Crook then sued the district in federal court, citing a series of pro-Republican posts by Superintendent Deron Stender and school board president Don Gee, and alleging that her First Amendment rights were being violated.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger recently granted Crook’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction blocking the district’s plans to terminate her.

The judge also deferred Crook’s request for a preliminary injunction until after a court hearing that’s currently planned for Oct. 31.

The order prevents the district’s school board from conducting Crook’s employment hearing, which had been scheduled for Oct. 21, and from “taking any other adverse employment actions” against Crook based on her Facebook comments.

In her ruling, Ebinger found that Crook “is likely to succeed in showing Stender took adverse action against her in response to exercise of her First Amendment rights” and that she is “likely to succeed on the merits of her First Amendment claim as to Stender.”

Ebinger added that she concluded “Crook spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern when posting her Facebook comment.”

As part of her ruling, Ebinger observed that Crook had “responded to and discussed the murder of a public figure, Charlie Kirk, and her (subsequent) longer post clarified her intent” in posting the original comment.

“Crook posted her Facebook comments on her personal time, at home, from her personal Facebook account,” Ebinger stated in her ruling. “She did not purport to speak as an employee of the Creston Community School District.”

The school district had argued that a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction would defeat its decision to discharge an employee and improperly extend “the employment of a potentially incompetent employee.”

Ebinger rejected that argument, stating that “the court finds the enforcement of First Amendment rights outweighs any potential employment harm to defendants. Further, the public has a compelling interest in protection of First Amendment and other constitutional rights.”

As part of her ruling, the judge denied Crook’s request to be removed from administrative leave.

Lawsuit cites posts by superintendent

In her lawsuit, Crook, who has taught English for the Creston district since 2022, alleges she has been “subjected to retaliation, and is now threatened with the termination of her continuing-teaching contract, because of a private, off-duty comment on Facebook.”

Crook’s Sept. 10 comment was made in response to a family member’s Facebook post about the shooting death of Kirk, a controversial, conservative political activist. Crook wrote of Kirk: “He is a terrible human being … terrible. I do not wish death on anyone, but him not being here is a blessing.”

The next morning, after seeing how others had perceived her original comment, Crook wrote on Facebook that she did “not wish anyone death” and apologized.

Later that morning, she issued a more extensive apology on her own Facebook page, stating: “I do NOT condone violence or the killing of people you disagree with politically or otherwise. That was never my intent … I did not think he should be killed. After further review, I should have thought more about how I chose to post my thoughts, how it would sound. I take responsibility for the poor wording of my post.”

The lawsuit alleges Stender, Creston’s superintendent, called Crook into a meeting Sept. 15, and reported that the district had received more than 111 emails and 140 phone calls, with the vast majority of them asking for Crook’s firing or asking that their children be removed from her classroom.

On Sept. 25, Stender delivered to Crook a formal notice of his recommendation to terminate her teaching contract. Crook then requested a hearing before the school board, which was scheduled for Oct. 21.

As part of her lawsuit, Crook included a 43-page document displaying social media posts allegedly written by Stender over the past several years. The lawsuit also claims Stender and Gee, the school board president, have each “made at least one Facebook post or comment agreeing with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asserting that in Florida, individuals have the right to hit other people with their cars” — a reference to DeSantis saying people, if they feel threatened, could drive over protesters.

The exhibit suggests Stender has made and shared political posts on a Twitter account he also used for school purposes, including content supporting Trump and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst; content condemning the “liberal media”; comments about “riots in liberal cities”; a post about supporters of former President Joe Biden being “snowflakes”; and one comment stating, “if you don’t like America, leave with Bruce Springsteen and the other elites.”

Two separate posts attributed to Stender also called on Iowans to “vote for Ernst” and to “vote Ernst on November 3.”

Crook’s lawsuit also references social media posts by Gee, the school board president, that include an immigration-related comment condemning what Gee called “bull — left-wing judges.”

Crook’s lawsuit seeks actual and punitive damages for violations of her First Amendment rights.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.