State Employee Sues Over Termination After Charlie Kirk Post
By Messer Caparello, P.A.
Last week, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Tallahassee against leadership officials at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The lawsuit was filed by a former FWC biologist who was terminated from her employment after reposting another account’s social media post to her Instagram story. The original post read: “the whales are deeply saddened to learn of the shooting of charlie kirk, haha just kidding, they care exactly as much as charlie kirk cared about children being shot in their classrooms, which is to say, not at all.”
The former employee brings First Amendment claims against FWC’s Executive Director and FWC’s Director of the Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, who allegedly was the employee’s ultimate supervisor. The employee alleges that her First Amendment rights were violated when she was retaliatorily discharged for making private political comments on a matter of public importance. The employee also alleges that FWC officials, in terminating her because of her comments, engaged in content and viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
The former employee seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as reinstatement and/or front pay. The employee also seeks punitive damages against her supervisor.
As a public-employee speech case, relevant questions include:
- whether the employee spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern;
- whether the employee’s free speech interests outweigh the government employer’s business interests;
- whether the employee’s speech was a substantial motivating factor in the employee’s termination; and
- whether the employer would have reached the same decision absent the employee’s speech.
In analyzing these types of claims, courts balance the public employee’s First Amendment interests against the state’s interests in regulating employee speech to promote efficiency and integrity in the discharge of governmental functions.
The outcome of this case will set important precedent for public employers seeking to effectively manage their workforce while also respecting their employee’s First Amendment rights. Because there have been reports of employees being suspended by Florida school districts, and state colleges and universities, the outcome of this lawsuit could have implications for Florida’s public educational institutions. This lawsuit could also be the first of many in Florida and around the southern states.
Case Information: Brown v. Young, Case No. 4:25-cv-00419-MW-MJF.