A Florida biologist who lost her job over a social media post criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk has secured a nearly half-million-dollar settlement from the state agency that terminated her.
Brittney Brown worked for Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for seven years, specializing in shorebird and seabird research on the panhandle. In September, she reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account suggesting Kirk would not care about children shot in classrooms. The next day, she was fired.
The FWC agreed Thursday to pay Brown $485,000 to cover backpay, damages, and legal fees. As part of the settlement, Brown waived her right to seek future employment with the agency.
Brown's termination followed the September 10 assassination of Kirk at a Utah university campus. Conservative activists and influencers, including Laura Loomer, vowed to punish people they believed were celebrating the killing. The social media account Libs of TikTok, which has millions of followers, identified Brown and shared her workplace after she posted. She was fired approximately 10 minutes after her termination was announced to Libs of TikTok, before the news became public.
The case hinged on free speech protections. Carrie McNamara, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Florida chapter, said the settlement demonstrated that states cannot punish employees for speech they disagree with. "The first amendment does not disappear when someone accepts a government job," McNamara said.
Brown had argued she struggled to find comparable work because the FWC is the regulatory body overseeing her research specialization. Her lawsuit sought reinstatement and damages.
The agency's habitat and species conservation director, Melissa Tucker, claimed Brown's post generated hundreds of formal complaints and caused significant disruption. Discovery later revealed the FWC received only about 50 complaints. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker recently imposed sanctions against Tucker for exaggerating those figures without correcting the record.
Brown was one of numerous workers across public and private sectors who faced termination over posts about Kirk's death. A Tennessee case drew particular attention when a retired police officer, Larry Bushart, was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post joking about the assassination. While incarcerated, he lost his post-retirement job and missed his granddaughter's birth. Tennessee agreed Wednesday to pay Bushart $835,000 to settle his lawsuit. The felony charge against him was eventually dropped.
Author James Rodriguez: "Brown's case exposes how quickly mob justice can override due process in government employment, and the judge's sanctions signal that agencies can't hide behind inflated complaint numbers to justify political firings."
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