Last October, a woman named Juli Briskman became Internet famous for giving the middle finger to President Trump’s motorcade while riding her bike nearby. She was then fired from her job in the marketing department of Akima LLC, and is now suing the company for unlawful termination.
Briskman told CNN that she was told she had violated the company's social media policy and that the company then fired her.
On Wednesday, Briskman tweeted that “I was fired from my job for flipping off @realDonaldTrump. Today, I filed suit with @GellerLawyers & @protctdemocracy because what happened to me was unlawful and un-American."
I was fired from my job for flipping off @realDonaldTrump. Today, I filed suit with @GellerLawyers&@protctdemocracy because what happened to me was unlawful and un-American.
— juli_briskman (@julibriskman) April 4, 2018
In a statement on Protect Democracy, Briskman’s lawyer, Maria Simon, claimed that Akima’s “forced Juli to resign out of fear of unlawful retaliation by the government” and that in doing so, they “violated the basic tenets of Virginia employment law.”
"Juli's expression of disapproval of the President is fundamental political speech protected by both the United States Constitution and Virginia state law," Simon said.