A former Kansas state employee has filed a federal lawsuit against Senate President Ty Masterson and two other Republican legislators, alleging they violated her First Amendment rights by pressuring her employer to fire her over a social media comment. The suit was filed Wednesday.
Katie Allen worked as a research analyst at the Kansas State Department of Education. She was dismissed five days after Charlie Kirk was killed in September 2025. According to the complaint, Masterson, Sen. Brad Starnes and Rep. Megan Steele had urged the public to contact then-education commissioner Randy Watson and demand she lose her job. The lawsuit says Watson believed he had no choice but to act after receiving thousands of emails from angry Kansans.
Allen has already taken legal action against the agency and Watson over her termination. A jury trial in that wrongful termination case is set for March 2.
The new complaint says the comment came on Sept. 10, 2025, the day Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University. Kirk is described in the filing as "a polarizing public figure." As Allen walked to her car after work, she saw a Facebook post about a 2023 Kirk remark, reported by Media Matters, in which he said it was worth accepting "some gun deaths every single year" to preserve the Second Amendment. Allen commented, "Well deserved." The suit says she reconsidered by the time she reached her car and deleted it. That night she posted an apology, saying she wrote the words in "an emotional moment" and did not intend their meaning.
The lawsuit says Masterson wrote on Facebook, X and Instagram the next day that Watson should immediately remove her. He and Starnes also issued a press release calling for her firing. On Sept. 12, Masterson posted a "call to action" asking people to call Watson, and he listed Allen's personal cellphone number and encouraged people to call her directly. Allen then received death threats, according to the suit, including an email titled "resign or die." Masterson later deleted his posts.
Starnes reposted Masterson's messages and emailed Watson and a State Board of Education member asking for Allen's removal. Steele urged her followers to "take a stand" and wrote to every board member identifying herself as a House member. The suit quotes her as calling the comment "disgusting and inexcusable." Board member Cathy Hopkins replied that she was speaking with Watson. Watson called Allen on Sept. 15 and asked her to resign. She declined and proposed a 30-day suspension, but he fired her. Masterson then took credit for the firing and called for her to leave the Manhattan-Ogden school board, where she still serves. Starnes and Steele represent districts that include the Manhattan-Ogden schools.
The complaint asserts that 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 donated $400 to Democrat Cindy Holscher's campaign for governor. Garrett Henson, a spokesman for Masterson's campaign, said the suit was filed two weeks before an election to help Holscher's bid. "It doesn't change what Ty believes: no one should be celebrating political violence," he said. Holscher's campaign declined to comment.
