Lawsuit filed against FWC over firing of employee following Charlie Kirk comments

ORLANDO, Fla. - We have new details about a employee with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) who was reportedly fired after posting online about Charlie Kirk. That’s thanks to a wrongful termination lawsuit just filed against the FWC Director.

The backstory:

Brittany Brown had worked for seven years as a biologist for the FWC, monitoring shorebirds and seabirds in a critical wildlife area and had won an award for her work just last year.

After Charlie Kirk was shot on Wednesday, September 10, Brown shared a post on Instagram that the FWC says made light of Charlie Kirk’s killing.

On Sunday, September 14th, the FWC said it was made aware of the post and was working toward a resolution.

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The next morning, Brown’s supervisor called her to say she would need to choose between resigning and being fired. She said she wanted to speak with an attorney. 40 minutes later, the FWC’s regional director showed up at Brown’s home with a law enforcement officer and a termination letter.

The FWC put out a statement about an hour later on X, saying Brown had been fired for making light of the shooting – behavior the FWC says didn’t align with their values.

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The lawsuit against the FWC calls that viewpoint-based discrimination, which violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment. Brown says she’s owed damages and wants her job back.

What they're saying:

The post that led to Brown’s firing was shared to her private Instagram story while she was on vacation out of state on September 10. 

The Post

It was a re-post of a meme account called @awhalefact that said: "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."

Because Brown’s account is set to private, the post was viewable only to her approved "followers" rather than the public as a whole. It was also shared with her temporary "story," meaning the post is taken down automatically after 24 hours.

The legal arguments

FWC’s Code of Conduct says employees must "maintain loyalty to FWC’s policies in communications with the public" and must "conduct themselves in such a manner that does not reflect an antagonistic image towards… the public."

The ACLU argues that Brown’s post did not incite or threaten violence, and was not obscene or defamatory. The social media page on which it was shared does not make reference to the FWC.

"While FWC does have policies governing the Internet and media posts, those policies do not address personal posts by FWC employees on their own accounts," the lawsuit reads. "The law is clearly established that — where a public employee is engaging in private public speech on a matter of public concern, and where no disruption in government operations is shown — the government cannot terminate or retaliate against the employee based on the content or viewpoint of their speech."

The other side:

The FWC told FOX 35 News in a statement:

"We were made aware of a deeply troubling incident involving an FWC employee who shared a social media post that made light of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The comments and actions of this individual are not in line with the FWC, our values, or our mission. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards the promotion of violence and hate, and we will not stand for such behavior. Upon learning of the social media post, FWC leadership took swift action, terminating the individual. We expect all our employees to conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism and always keep the public's trust in mind."