New Lawsuit Challenges the Retaliatory Firing of State Employee Exercising First Amendment Rights on Social Media

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The ACLU of Florida and the law firm of Benjamin, Aaronson, Edinger & Patanzo, PA filed a lawsuit against the leadership of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for firing an employee for a temporary social media post about the tragedy of school shootings that referenced the death of Charlie Kirk on her private account.

The lawsuit alleges that the employee’s termination was punishment for expressing a view disfavored by certain state officials, which constitutes unlawful retaliation in violation of her First Amendment right to free speech.

The former state employee, Brittney Brown, is a skilled biologist who worked for the FWC for over seven years. During her tenure, she earned consecutive performance-based raises by her superiors and had been awarded by her peers for being a supportive and dependable colleague.

While on vacation, Brown reposted a post from a parody account on her Instagram story. The post did not condone Mr. Kirk’s killing nor did it call for further violence, rather, it conveyed a satirical indifference — a viewpoint fully covered by the First Amendment.

Yet her temporary 24-hour post was screenshotted from her private account and later uploaded to X by an account called “Libs of TikTok,” which shared a screenshot of Brown’s post next to a screenshot of her LinkedIn profile. The post called for her immediate termination at the state agency. Within 24 hours, FWC wrongfully complied and terminated Brown – violating her First Amendment rights.

Brown’s firing is just another extreme example of how Florida’s leadership pressures and seeks to exact revenge against state workers with differing political views. For the past three years, the state has employed a wide range of tactics to chill or censor speech across state entities and programs. Just earlier this year, Gov. DeSantis called for a DOGE audit to “prune ideological stuff” at universities and state agencies.

“We see the state’s action plainly for what it is: a concerted effort to purge state employees with political beliefs that differ from our state’s current leadership,” said Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. “The years-long effort to censor our students, professors, and now state employees has become Florida’s trademark but also a dangerous attempt to erode the limits of the First Amendment to favor those in power. But we will not back down. We stand with Brittney and all those who have been brashly targeted by state censorship. The protections of the U.S. Constitution belongs to us all — not just those favored by state leaders.”

The lawsuit argues that the First Amendment prohibits government officials from retaliating against employees for speech “based on the ideas or opinions it conveys.” Yet government actors at all levels have called for Americans to lose their jobs and livelihoods because they exercised their right to freely express political views that are controversial — a right Mr. Kirk himself exercised and encouraged for others.

“The basic freedom to talk about the biggest public issues of the day, to debate and even condemn the political views of others, is fundamental to our democracy,” said Carrie McNamara, staff attorney of the ACLU of Florida. “Our state cannot and should not respond to political violence by infringing on the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. It goes against all we stand for as a free society. So, we’ll see the state in court.”

“It is deeply disturbing and undemocratic to see such firings take place across the state and in the country,” said Gary Edinger, of the firm Benjamin, Aaronson, Edinger & Patanzo, PA. “We know that it will take all hands on deck to protect our cherished freedoms and constitutional rights. We’re proud to join Brittney and the ACLU of Florida in this stand for justice.”

The lawsuit can be viewed below.