A Florida biologist who was fired by a state agency for criticizing conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting death has secured a nearly half-million-dollar settlement. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) terminated biologist Brittney Brown in September after she reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account that suggested Kirk would not care about children being shot in their classrooms. Brown subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, arguing that she struggled to find other employment because the state agency serves as the regulatory body for her research specialization in bird conservation.
Settlement Details
Brown signed a $485,000 settlement agreement with agency directors on Thursday, covering backpay, damages, and attorney costs. As part of the deal, she agreed not to seek future employment at the agency. FWC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Context of the Firings
Brown was among a wave of workers in both the public and private sectors who lost their jobs over comments about Kirk’s assassination on a Utah university campus on 10 September. Lawsuits are pending over many of those firings. Before his death, Kirk and the organization he founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help Donald Trump win a second presidency.
Kirk’s supporters combed social media after the killing for posts they viewed as celebrating his death. Influencers like Laura Loomer pledged to ruin the careers of people who made light of the killing, and the conservative social media account Libs of TikTok shared the identities and workplaces of many who posted with its audience of millions.
Libs of TikTok Involvement
Libs of TikTok posted about Brown, and she was fired the next day, according to her lawsuit. Brown said someone then alerted Libs of TikTok about her termination only about 10 minutes after it happened and before it was made public.
Similar Case in Tennessee
In a rare instance in Tennessee, a retired police officer was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post joking about Kirk’s assassination. Tennessee officials agreed on Wednesday to pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the man, Larry Bushart. While behind bars, Bushart lost his post-retirement job and missed the birth of his granddaughter before authorities eventually dropped a felony charge against him, he said in the lawsuit.
Brown’s Employment History
Before her termination, Brown worked for Florida’s FWC for about seven years and studied shorebirds and seabirds on the panhandle, according to court documents.
Legal Perspectives
Attorney Carrie McNamara of the American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Florida called Brown’s settlement deal “a hard-won vindication” that sends a message to the state’s officials that they cannot punish speech they dislike. “The first amendment does not disappear when someone accepts a government job,” McNamara said, alluding to the part of the US constitution which grants the right to free speech.
Brown’s former supervisor at the agency, habitat and species conservation director Melissa Tucker, had claimed that Brown’s post generated hundreds of formal complaints and caused significant disruption. Discovery in the case later revealed that the agency only received about 50 complaints. US district judge Mark Walker imposed sanctions against Tucker recently for exaggerating the amount and then not correcting the record.
