Overview
- Erika Santos filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Orlando after being suspended on Sept. 18 and terminated on Oct. 16 following an anonymous tip about her Facebook activity.
- Eastern Florida State College said her posts appeared to condone or celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death, while her attorneys argue the commentary was protected political speech that caused no workplace disruption.
- A campus security officer, Ricky Carswell, deemed her posts “disgraceful” in investigation findings included in the filing, which also cites his 2013 Obama-related post to argue selective discipline.
- Court documents note Santos wrote that she did not approve of the assassination, and that her posts addressed issues such as political violence, gender equity, racial equity, and free expression.
- The case is part of a broader set of lawsuits over employee social-media discipline after Kirk’s killing, including a separate challenge before Judge Mark Walker where negative posts were described as likely protected speech.