Art teacher’s Charlie Kirk firing lawsuit quietly ends
Amanda Lea’s lawsuit against The Barstow School was dismissed with prejudice, ending the case without a public ruling on her claims.
Law and Crime
A lawsuit filed by a former Kansas City private school art teacher who said she was fired after telling students Charlie Kirk had been shot quietly ended earlier this year. The case was dismissed in February without a public ruling on her claims.
Amanda Lea and The Barstow School filed a joint stipulation of dismissal on January 29 in Jackson County Circuit Court in Missouri, agreeing all claims would be dismissed with prejudice, meaning Lea cannot bring the same claims again.
Judge Adam Caine entered the dismissal order on February 10 and ordered each side to bear its own costs, fees and expenses.
The filings do not disclose whether the dismissal followed a settlement or any other private agreement between the parties.
Art teacher fired after Charlie Kirk shooting files lawsuit
After Kirk’s death, conservative activists and media figures launched coordinated campaigns targeting teachers and professors accused of reacting insensitively.
Adam Schrader
Lea sued The Barstow School in October, alleging she was wrongfully fired after an interaction with students about Kirk, the conservative activist fatally shot on September 10, 2025. Lea had taught at the K-12 private school since 2021 and was fired on September 19, according to court documents.
Her lawsuit said news of the shooting spread quickly through the school. Lea alleged that after a student told her Kirk had died, other students asked who he was. Lea then got her laptop and showed students a news headline about his death, according to the lawsuit.
Her lawyers said Lea “did not celebrate or make any derogatory statements regarding Mr. Kirk’s death.” They also said surveillance video showed Lea walking down a hallway with her laptop “basically expressionless.”
School administrators later told Lea the interaction made two students feel “unsafe,” according to the lawsuit. She was first suspended for five days without pay and told to take a class on emotional intelligence before being fired.
Lea’s lawyers described her in the lawsuit as a “very popular art teacher and award-winning robotics coach” who had received strong evaluations and had no prior discipline.
“Ms. Lea was summarily terminated in what can only be described as a reactionary, arbitrary and capricious manner,” her lawyers said in the lawsuit.
Lea accused the school of breach of contract and wrongful discharge. She sought damages in excess of $25,000 on each count.
The Barstow School denied wrongdoing in its answer. Lawyers for the school said Lea had shown students news about Kirk’s death “as if she were celebrating it” and alleged that Lea later told supervisors, “I guess you could say I was celebrating his death.”
Follow along with other lawsuits at Urgent Matter's art lawsuit tracker.
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