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Bay County, FL - A former Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her termination violated her First Amendment rights.
Brittney Brown, a Bay County resident who worked for the agency for about seven years, was fired on September 15th, after reposting a social media post on her private Instagram account.
The 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 post was shared while Brown was off duty and did not relate to her job responsibilities.
The social media account Libs of TikTok highlighted her LinkedIn profile and Instagram story, calling for her termination.
The FWC issued a statement saying the post did not align with the agency's values or mission and that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward the promotion of violence and hate.
Brown filed the lawsuit on September 30th in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
The complaint names FWC Executive Director Roger Young and her former supervisor, Melissa Tucker, as defendants.
It alleges that the two retaliated against her for exercising free speech and discriminated against her viewpoint.
Brown seeks reinstatement, back pay, front pay, and compensatory and punitive damages.
Attorney Gary Edinger, representing Brown, stated that the post did not constitute a "true threat" or obscene content and argued that her interest as a private citizen outweighed the agency’s interest in restricting speech.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Mark Walker and could influence how courts handle public employees’ free speech rights.