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Workers Are Getting Fired Over Posts Mocking Charlie Kirk’s Death

Campaigns to alert employers to contentious posts are posing new challenges for bosses; ‘This is very different’ from past political controversies at work

By Allison Pohle and Chip Cutter, WSJ

Updated Sept. 15, 2025 11:27 pm ET

Some companies are firing employees for social-media posts mocking Charlie Kirk’s death.

Workers across the country who’ve mocked Charlie Kirk’s death online have quickly learned their words can get them fired.

From American Airlines to Nasdaq—and in workplaces that include restaurants, schools and law firms—employers have ousted or suspended staff in recent days for gloating, deriding or making otherwise contentious posts about the conservative activist’s killing. Many are getting flagged to the posts by online activists who’ve collected the names of commenters. Some prominent conservatives have joined the call, too.

“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out—and, hell, call their employer,” said Vice President JD Vance as he guest-hosted the late Kirk’s podcast Monday.

The swift response from companies underscores their eagerness to distance themselves from political commentary that risks blowing back on their reputations with consumers—or the Trump administration. Business leaders have become less accommodating in recent years to their workers’ personal views on matters including the war on Gaza, immigration and transgender rights.

Vice President JD Vance hosted an episode of ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ from the White House to honor the conservative activist who was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University. Photo: Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

The outcry over employees’ comments on Kirk, though, has posed a new challenge for employers, executives say.

“This is very different,” said Vanessa Matsis-McCready, associate general counsel and vice president of HR services for Engage PEO, which handles workplace functions for small and medium businesses. “I really don’t feel like there was a time when you could have an individual make a statement on their personal social media and have their employer receive thousands of phone calls.”

Employers including Washington law firm Perkins Coie, the Carolina Panthers and others have said they fired employees who made comments or posted online in ways that didn’t match their values. The Secret Service put an agent on immediate leave for a Facebook post that mentioned “karma.” ODP Corporation, the parent company of Office Depot, said it fired workers after a video appeared to show an employee refusing to print a poster for a Kirk vigil.

One anonymously run website had crowdsourced tens of thousands of commenters’ names, social-media accounts and employers. Some posts cheered his death, while others disparaged or mocked some of Kirk’s more polarizing views. Another conservative political activist, Olivia Krolczyk, posted on X over the weekend that she’d contacted 471 employers.

“My fingers hurt. My eyes hurt,” she wrote, adding, “It’s all worth it.”

Waning tolerance for political speech

Companies have quickly responded, though some people say their comments have been misconstrued. On Friday, Elon Musk tagged Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella as he reposted what another X user called a list of developers at Microsoft’s game developer Blizzard “trashing” Kirk. “What’s going on here?” Musk wrote in the post to his 226 million-plus followers.

Shortly after, Microsoft released a statement, saying, “We’re aware of the views expressed by a small subset of our employees regarding recent events.” It added that the company was “currently reviewing each individual situation.” Musk didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday.

Some Trump cabinet members have urged the disciplinary actions. Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News late Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said employers had an obligation to get rid of such workers.

“You need to look at people who are saying horrible things. And they shouldn’t be working with you,” she said. She added that Justice Department officials would look into the Office Depot incident. “Businesses cannot discriminate,” she said. “We can prosecute you for that.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy endorsed American Airlines’ decision to remove employees from service for posts related to Kirk’s death. “This behavior is disgusting and they should be fired,” he posted on X. “Any company responsible for the safety of the traveling public cannot tolerate that behavior.”

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines also have pulled employees from duties over Kirk-related posts. “We’ve been clear with our customers and employees that there’s zero tolerance for politically motivated violence or any attempt to justify it,” United said. In a memo to Delta employees, CEO Ed Bastian said the posts of suspended Delta employees “went well beyond healthy, respectful debate.”

The union that represents pilots at American Airlines on Friday advised members to be discreet online after some pilots were removed from their schedules following inflammatory social-media posts.

For workers, the quick firings are the latest reminder that business leaders have waning tolerance for disruptive political speech. Private-sector employees aren’t legally protected from repercussions for words or actions even if it happens outside the workplace, legal experts say.

Many employers have “reached a tipping point,” said Dawn Solowey, a partner at law firm Seyfarth Shaw, who noted that corporate bosses now want to “lower the temperature.”

False accusations

One challenge for employers now is deciding which posts cross a line and should result in an employee’s termination, human-resources specialists say. In some cases, workers say they lost their jobs for posts that didn’t endorse violence or celebrate Kirk’s murder.

The online campaigns also have wrongly implicated some people.

Cynthia Rehberg, an associate principal from a Wisconsin elementary school, found her staff photo had been inaccurately posted on X along with a social-media post celebrating Kirk’s death. The school district said it received thousands of comments, along with hundreds of phone calls. Some made direct threats to Rehberg, who says she has nothing but sympathy for the Kirk family.

Ryan Fournier, a conservative activist, had promoted the post and took it down late Sunday, several days after the rumor began circulating, she said.

On Monday, about 100 students called out of school due to safety concerns, the superintendent, Jason Tadlock says.

Fournier later clarified on X that Rehberg hadn’t posted the Kirk-related comment. “Moving forward, we ask that all tips include as many details as possible—along with screenshots and supporting evidence,” he wrote. “We must continue exposing individuals mocking Charlie Kirk’s death, but accuracy is critical.”

Rehberg said she hopes the episode is a reminder that not every claim made on social media is accurate and that real people are affected by such public accusations.

“It’s just a good lesson for students, adults, all, where, when we come across a post, that we look at it critically.”