Florida officials tried to destroy the life of one of their biologists and might well have succeeded had it not been for the ACLU. Brittney Brown won't be getting her job back, but will receive some compensation from the state.
Source: Associated Press
Florida officials will pay nearly half a million dollars to a biologist who was fired by a state agency for criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk on social media after his death.
The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fired biologist Brittney Brown in September after she reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account that claimed Kirk wouldn’t care about children being shot in their classrooms. She filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, saying she struggled to find other work because the state agency is the regulatory body for her research specialization in bird conservation.
Brown on Thursday signed a $485,000 settlement agreement with agency directors that covers backpay, damages and attorney costs. She agreed as part of the deal to not seek future employment at the agency.
And this foolishness started as one might expect.
Kirk’s supporters combed social media after the Sept. 10 shooting 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 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.
The ACLU lawyers who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Brown against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The lawyers noted that the plaintiff follows an account on Instagram called @whalefact that posts satirical/parody posts from the perspective of a whale. The post 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," according to the lawsuit.
