TOPEKA — A former state employee sued Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson and two other Republican legislators for demanding she be fired over a comment she posted to Facebook when Charlie Kirk was killed in September 2025.
Katie Allen, who was a research analyst at the Kansas State Department of Education, was fired five days later, after Masterson, Sen. Brad Starnes and Rep. Megan Steele directed the public to contact then-education commissioner Randy Watson and demand she lose her job. Her lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, accuses them of violating her First Amendment right to free speech.
The lawsuit says Watson believed he had no choice but to fire her after receiving thousands of emails from angry Kansans. She previously sued the state agency and Watson for wrongful termination, and a jury trial is scheduled for March 2.
Masterson also posted Allen’s personal cellphone number on his official Kansas Senate President Facebook page and urged people to call her, according to the lawsuit. She received death threats, including an email titled “resign or die,” in which the writer promised to “blow your f*****g brains out if you don’t resign.” Masterson later deleted his post.
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The lawsuit says “Masterson acted with evil motive and intent or with reckless or callous indifference to Allen’s First Amendment rights.”
Allen is represented by Overland Park attorneys Mark Dugan and Heather Schlozman. Campaign finance reports show Dugan has donated $400 to Democrat Cindy Holscher’s campaign for governor.
“Two weeks before an election, a lawyer who donates to Cindy Holscher filed a lawsuit to try to help her campaign. That tells you what this is,” said Garrett Henson, a spokesman for Masterson’s campaign. “It doesn’t change what Ty believes: no one should be celebrating political violence. That’s something Kansans of every party agree on.”
Holscher’s campaign declined to comment.
Kirk, the conservative activist described in the lawsuit as “a polarizing public figure,” was shot and killed Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University.
While walking to her car after work that day, the lawsuit says, Allen saw a Facebook post about one of Kirk’s quotes on gun violence.
“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” Kirk said in 2023, as reported by Media Matters.
Allen commented on the Facebook post: “Well deserved.”
The lawsuit says she thought better of the comment by the time she reached her car and deleted it. Later that night, she posted an apology, saying she made the comment in “an emotional moment,” and then “quickly realized I didn’t intend the meaning of the two words I wrote.”
“That is not who I am or what I believe — which is why I deleted that comment so fast,” she wrote. “Like many of you, I am deeply concerned about the violence and discontent happening in America today and will continue to advocate for common sense laws that keep our kids (and) community safe. When I make a mistake, I own it and promise to do better.”
The next day, Masterson and wrote on his Facebook, X and Instagram accounts that Watson needed to immediately remove her form his position. He and Starnes also issued a press release that day calling for her to be fired.
On Sept. 12, Masterson posted a “call to action” on Facebook, urging people to call Watson and demand she be fired. He also listed Allen’s personal cellphone number and encouraged people to call her directly.
Masterson has since removed his Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 Facebook posts, the lawsuit says.
After Watson fired her on Sept. 15, Masterson took credit for the firing and called for her to resign from her position on the Manhattan-Ogden school board, where she still serves.
Starnes, who is in the middle of a four-year Senate term, and Steele, who is running unopposed for her House seat, represent districts that include the Manhattan-Ogden schools.
Starnes posted his press release on his Facebook page and reposted Masterson’s posts. Starnes also sent email messages from his Senate account to Watson and a Kansas State Board of Education member asking for Allen to be fired.
Steele posted on her Facebook page to “strongly urge” Watson to fire Allen and asked her followers: “Take a stand. Demand she resign.” Steele also wrote to each member of the State Board of Education identifying herself as a House member. The lawsuit said she called Allen’s comment “disgusting and inexcusable” and said she “has no place working for the State of Kansas or any place near our children’s education.”
“I strongly urge you to immediately demand Allen resign or be fired,” she wrote.
Board member Cathy Hopkins responded and said she was speaking with Watson about the matter.
Watson called Allen on Sept. 15 and asked her to resign. She declined and proposed a 30-day suspension, the lawsuit says. Watson fired her instead.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: [email protected]. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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