Fired Clemson faculty member wins settlement after being fired for a Facebook post about Charlie Kirk
CLEMSON – Clemson University has rescinded its firing of an assistant professor who shared another person’s Facebook post via his personal account that was critical of the late conservative pundit Charlie Kirk.
In a mediated settlement agreement, Clemson has agreed to rescind Dr. Joshua Bregy’s September 26, 2025, termination. Dr. Bregy will continue to receive pay and benefits throughout the original term of his employment, and Provost Robert H. Jones has agreed to provide positive letters of recommendation to potential employers based on Dr. Bregy’s classroom teaching.
“We were honored to represent Dr. Bregy and to reach an agreement that restores his employment, allows him to continue to pursue research funding, and deters the university from violating the First Amendment rights of its faculty in the future,” said ACLU of South Carolina Legal Director Allen Chaney. “Politicians and university administrators come and go, but years from now we will still be here. So will the U.S. Constitution.”
With the settlement agreement in place, Dr. Bregy has agreed to drop his lawsuit against the university and resign his employment effective May 15, 2026. He will not have teaching, research, or faculty obligations through the spring semester.
Clemson fired Dr. Bregy, a highly qualified and well-regarded assistant professor in the public university’s Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, on September 26, 2025. The repost that led to the firing was a critique of Kirk’s rhetoric and began with a condemnation of violence. The full text of the repost is copied below.
Clemson’s decision to fire Dr. Bregy came after a concerted effort by state and national politicians who threatened to defund the university if it did not bend to their will. As referenced in the initial lawsuit filed Oct. 3, 2025, faculty at Clemson said that the firing “sent shockwaves through the faculty, triggered an emergency meeting of the faculty senate, and has fractured the faculty’s trust and confidence in the Provost, University President, and Board of Trustees.”
For more information about this case, see our case page for Bregy v. Clemson.
