The shero who flipped off Trump’s motorcade was fired from her job shortly after, and she’s suing
Juli Briskman became internet famous in October 2017 for flipping the bird at President Donald Trump’s motorcade while riding her bicycle in Virginia. She was immediately dubbed a hero among many news outlets, and social media hailed her as #Her2020. But Briskman was fired from her job shortly after the incident, and she believes it’s related to the viral photo. On Wednesday, April 4th, she announced she’s firing back with a lawsuit.
Briskman, part of the marketing team at the company Akima LLC, was called into a meeting in November 2017 after being told that she had violated the company’s social media policy by posting the now iconic photo on Twitter and Facebook as her profile picture.
“They said, ‘we’re separating from you,’” Briskman recalled. “Basically, you cannot have ‘lewd’ or ‘obscene’ things in your social media. So they were calling flipping him off obscene.”
Juli Briskman made headlines last fall after a photo of her flipping off Trump’s motorcade while riding her bicycle went viral ― and got her fired. Now she's suing her former employer, government contractor Akima LLC, for potentially breaking state law. https://t.co/OJTOizuGdc
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) April 5, 2018
Briskman had only been working at Akima for six months, and she emphasized to her bosses that she wasn’t on the job when the photo was taken and that none of her social media pages mention her employer. But the government contractor thought the photo could hurt their business.
Virginia operates under an “employment-at-will” law, which means that employers in the state can fire people anytime for any reason. However, Briskman noted that she knew of another coworker who posted lewd comments on his Facebook profile — which also said he was affiliated with Akima LLC — and while the coworker was reprimanded, he wasn’t fired.
Briskman announced her lawsuit on Twitter, and she’s being represented by Geller Lawyers and the nonprofit Protect Democracy. Her attorney Maria Simon said in a statement that the situation was an infringement on Briskman’s rights.
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
“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. “Akima’s action — forcing Juli to resign out of fear and unlawful retaliation by the government -- violated the basic tenets of Virginia employment law. Ms. Briskman chose in her private time and in her capacity as a private citizen to express her disapproval of President Trump by extending her middle finger.
It looks like our shero isn’t afraid to back down.
