A former transit employee in eastern Washington claims she was fired over Facebook comments criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his death.
In a lawsuit filed in Spokane federal court this week, Marilee Castillo says she Grant Transit Authority violated her First Amendment rights by firing her after she made political comments on her personal social media account.
Castillo began working for Grant Transit Authority in November 2024 and later worked in a dispatch support role at the Moses Lake Multimodal Transit Center.
The lawsuit states that after Kirk was killed on Sept. 10, 2025, Grant Transit Authority lowered its flags in observance of his death.
On her personal Facebook account, Castillo allegedly wrote: “When a horrible trash-human dies and others talk about them as if they were wonderful, as opposed to the modern day Nazi that they were, what is that called?” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also alleges Castillo commented: “We had to put our flags at half mast this evening. I said someone else can do it because I’m not touching the flag for him.”
Castillo claims she was never actually asked to lower the flags herself and says the comment was made to a non-supervisory co-worker.
The complaint further alleges that Castillo’s Facebook page did not identify her as a Grant Transit Authority employee and did not mention the agency by name.
According to the filing, a member of the public later emailed the transit agency to complain about Castillo’s social media activity regarding Kirk. The lawsuit says the person also stated they would “still continue to use your services” despite the posts.
Grant Transit Authority then launched an internal investigation. During that process, the agency allegedly learned Castillo had also made comments about Kirk to a co-worker while at work.
The complaint says no members of the public heard those workplace remarks and that the co-worker did not independently file a complaint.
Castillo alleges she was terminated by an operations manager on Sept. 25, 2025, because of her comments regarding Kirk.
The lawsuit argues Castillo’s comments constituted protected political speech made as a private citizen and claims the remarks did not disrupt transit operations.
Castillo is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress, reputational harm, attorneys’ fees, and other relief.
Puget Press has reached out to Grant Transit Authority for comment.
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