Alvarez v. Chellgren

Anthony Alvarez is a transgender student at the University of Kansas who was employed as a housing proctor, a role similar to a resident assistant, during the 2024-2025 school year. On his own time, Alvarez attended a protest and shared his thoughts with a local media outlet alongside other students about housing policy changes for the next year that would eliminate gender-neutral bathrooms and gender-inclusive room assignments in the Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall, where he lived. At the time of that protest, KU had no plans to employ Alvarez at Grace Pearson in the next year, which was made clear in the article quoting him. Nonetheless, former Assistant Director of KU Housing and Residence Life Emily Chellgren fired Alvarez, requiring him to move out of the dorm and find other housing. 

Alvarez’s off-the-clock comments on a matter of public concern were made in his personal capacity as a student and could not be punished merely because they related to his employment. The Supreme Court has made clear that public employees do not “relinquish [their] First Amendment rights to comment on matters of public interest” because of their employment. The same is true for student employees at public universities. FIRE wrote to KU in May 2025 explaining these First Amendment concerns, among others.

The trial court properly denied Chellgren’s motion to dismiss Alvarez’s lawsuit, rejecting her claims that Alvarez spoke pursuant to his official duties and that she should be entitled to qualified immunity. FIRE has filed an amicus brief urging the Tenth Circuit to affirm the trial court, as a public employee’s off-the-clock speech does not lose First Amendment protection because it “merely concerns” their duties, and Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit precedent had clearly established Alvarez’s First Amendment rights.