Florida College Pays $250K in Free Speech Challenge

Eastern Florida State College has agreed to pay $250,000 to a former employee it fired after she criticized Charlie Kirk on Facebook.

Erika Santos, a former grant accountant, sued the institution in November for violating her right to free speech and asked to be reinstated. The settlement, agreed last week, includes all damages and attorney fees. Santos agreed not to seek or apply for employment at the college again.

Santos was suspended without pay in September after the institution received an anonymous letter alerting it to the private posts on her personal account that condemned Kirk’s views on race, women’s rights and abortion. EFSC conducted a monthlong investigation and fired Santos for comments it described as “repugnant, divisive, political in nature, and undermining public confidence in EFSC’s ability to provide an educational environment free from discrimination based on political affiliation.”

In her suit, Santos argued the Facebook posts were outside of her job responsibilities and addressed issues of public concern including political violence, gender equality and freedom of expression. She said the post did not disrupt EFSC operations.

“EFSC firing me due to someone’s anonymous submission about my private social media made it clear this was never about them putting their employees or students first,” Santos said in a statement. “Staying silent would have allowed them the opportunity to stand behind their own false narrative. Speaking up is how we protect our rights to free speech and everyday people, like me, deserve to understand that.”

In an email to Florida Today, Mark Levitt, who represented the college administrators, said the college denies any wrongdoing or violation of any law and it stands by the decision to terminate Santos, saying her activities were “inconsistent with its institutional mission, professional expectations of employees, applicable College policies, and potential disruption to the College’s primary mission of serving its students.”