BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A federal lawsuit has been filed after former Eastern Florida State College employee Erika Santos was fired over comments she made in a private Facebook group about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Santos’ attorney, Ryan Barack of Kwall Barack Nadeau PLLC, says the college violated her First Amendment rights, noting she was punished for “things that she said on her private Facebook that were not inflammatory” and were part of a
conversation “everybody in the country was talking about.” One comment attributed to Santos in the lawsuit reads: “It really is some crazy irony. It’s very telling about the vibes one puts out into the world.” According to the complaint, EFSC
only learned of the posts after someone anonymously sent a letter with a screenshot. Barack argues private conversations with friends and family shouldn’t be treated the same as public statements.
A college spokesperson told us, “Eastern Florida State College received information alleging this individual, an Accounting Department employee, made “vile and disgraceful” comments on social media regarding the death of Charlie Kirk.
After investigation, it appeared the comments condoned if not celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk, a death that resulted from gun violence on a college campus in front of thousands of college students.
Professionalism and good judgement are expected of all employees, but especially those responsible for handling public money, and in this circumstance these comments did not align with our expectations nor our institutional mission.”
Barack says the larger goal for educational institutions “should really be to engage, to invite discussion.” He added, “I think to some degree this is part of a larger trend to punish people who are talking about political matters and using the levers of power, the government, to try and punish people and prevent them from talking about things. And that’s really problematic.”
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