Former UT anthropology professor Tamar Shirinian is to receive $1.9 million from the university to settle her contentious wrongful termination case.
Shirinian’s attorney, Robert Bigelow, said the settlement “will resolve this matter in its entirety.” Bigelow filed the notice of settlement June 29, eight months after Shirinian’s lawsuit was first filed on Oct. 29.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman began termination proceedings against Shirinian in September after her private online comment about the assassination of political influencer Charlie Kirk surfaced on social media, drawing the attention of state politicians and the UT community.
“The world is better off without him in it,” Shirinian said in the comment.
The board’s Audit and Compliance Committee sanctioned the settlement after its annual meeting June 29 in a separate, nonpublic meeting. The settlement must now be approved by Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.
Despite expressing desire to return to the classroom throughout her case, Shirinian’s agreement with the university does not include being reinstated.
Shirinian’s termination, which Plowman finalized in February, sparked heated discussion over free speech and due process on campus. These issues became part of a broader, national conversation over academic freedom as professors at other institutions faced terminations similar to Shirinian’s.
Also announced, the Oglethorpe County School District paid nearly $300,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former Georgia teacher of the year finalist stemming from a social media post about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
High school English teacher Michelle Mickens was one of several educators across the country who were removed from the classroom for a post related to Kirk’s 2025 death. In a lawsuit filed in October, she accused the small school system outside Athens of violating her right to free speech.
After posting a quote from Kirk on her private social media account, school system leaders pressured Mickens to resign, according to the original complaint.
The district agreed to pay Mickens $270,420 for “alleged emotional distress” and $17,080 to her attorney to cover legal fees, according to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request.
An employee at Indiana University will receive $225,000; and an Iowa teacher won more than $200,000, according to published reports.
