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A Williamson County Schools teacher who was suspended over a private social media post in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination has been reinstated to her job, though a federal lawsuit over the district’s actions is still ongoing.
The reinstatement was revealed in a federal court filing after Emily Orbison, a Franklin High School teacher, sued the Tennessee school district last month over her suspension and a subsequent “no contact” ban from district schools property that blocked her from accessing her own daughter’s school and teacher.
Orbison was reinstated on Nov. 11 and promised back pay from Sept. 15, according to the reinstatement letter. The letter states Orbison’s “actions did not justify employee discipline.”
Orbison’s attorney, Kyle Mothershead, declined to comment on Thursday.
It’s unclear if Orbison, a science teacher, will return to the classroom as her federal lawsuit continues. Williamson County Schools’ attorneys filed her reinstatement letter on Thursday as evidence in a motion to dismiss, claiming that the internal investigation into whether she violated the district’s employee code of conduct was not an infringement on her constitutional rights to political speech.
“The decision to return Plaintiff to her job does not mean that the suspension pending investigation unlawfully infringed upon Plaintiff’s protected speech — it was necessary to balance the competing interests before returning Plaintiff to a potentially volatile environment,” Lisa Carson, the district’s attorney, said in the filing. “Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s death and Plaintiff’s comments, where community reaction was volatile and the risk of disruption was highest, the balance weighed in favor of the employer’s interest in protecting students and staff and avoiding disruption.”
Orbison posted her comments on Instagram Stories after Kirk’s death on Sept. 10, and in court filings she said her account was private with limited followers. Orbison shared a quote from Kirk where he suggested it was “worth it” and “rational” to have some gun deaths “so that we can have” Second Amendment rights.
In her initial lawsuit, Orbison said she felt moved to satirize Kirk’s political positions, which she disagreed with.
“Don’t worry, y’all. It’s worth it. It’s rational,” Orbison’s post said, according to a screenshot in her initial lawsuit. “It’s prudent that I have to go through regular drills of practicing how I will save the lives of students. Practice packing gunshot wounds. Reassure kids that when we get shot at, I will be there to protect them.”
But despite being posted on her private story, the post exploded into public view as many educators across the nation faced intense scrutiny in the wake of Kirk’s shooting death.
Orbison’s comments were featured in an article from The Federalist on Sept. 13 that was shared by a Williamson County board member and Sen. Marsha Blackburn. The Tennessee Republican led the charge against multiple Tennessee educators in the wake of Kirk’s death, and Blackburn shared the Federalist report on social media with the comment, “Fire her immediately.”
Orbison was suspended two days later.
Orbison sued in federal court in October, claiming retaliation and First Amendment rights violations over her firing and a blanket no-contact order that prevented her from speaking to her 5-year-old daughter’s teacher or attend school events for her kindergarten class. A judge quickly granted an injunction allowing her access to her daughter’s education.
Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.
