WA transit worker fired after calling Charlie Kirk a Nazi. Now she’s suing
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- An Eastern Washington government employee posted about Charlie Kirk on her Facebook page.
- Grant Transit Authority fired her over her negative remarks, she says.
- Lawsuit filed in federal court.
An Eastern Washington transit authority is being sued after a former employee says she was fired for opinions she posted about conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on her personal Facebook page.
The federal court lawsuit filed by Marilee Castillo against the Grant Transit Authority says the public bus service for Grant County violated her First Amendment right to free speech.
Castillo worked in a dispatch support position for the transit authority when Kirk was murdered on Sept. 10, 2025, and the transit authority lowered its flags in observation of Kirk’s death.
She posted on her personal Facebook account: “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?”
She also responded to a comment on her post saying, “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’s attorney said in a statement that Castillo found Kirk’s politics to be harmful to women and people of color.
“I loved serving my community in my role at GTA,” Castillo said in a statement. “I was motivated to write about Kirk online by my passions for justice and equality — the same passions that guided me in my job at GTA every single day.”
Two days after Castillo posted comments about Kirk, a member of the public emailed the transit authority complaining about Castillo’s online remarks, but saying they would continue to use the transit services.
The investigation that followed found that Castillo also had commented at work about Kirk to a co-worker.
No member of the public heard the comment and the co-worker did not file a complaint, according to the lawsuit.
Castillo’s Facebook page did not identify her as an employee of Grant Transit Authority, and the lawsuit noted that she had not been asked to lower a flag in honor of Kirk.
Transit worker fired
Castillo was fired on Sept. 25 because of her statements about Kirk, the lawsuit says.
She had worked for the transit agency since November 2024 as a driver and then in dispatch support, where she supported transit drivers and covered the front desk at the transit’s Moses Lake office.
“No one should lose their job for exercising their right to free speech,” said Ellicott Dandy, Castillo’s Seattle-based attorney, in a statement. “We’re taking action to seek justice for Ms. Castillo and to ensure other public employees are not silenced.”
The lawsuit, which also names transit operations manager JoBeth Carlson as a defendant, was filed in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court.
Castillo is asking for lost wages and benefits, compensation for emotional distress and humiliation, punitive damages against Carlson and costs of bringing the lawsuit.
The transit agency has not responded to the lawsuit yet and declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 11:21 AM with the headline "WA transit worker fired after calling Charlie Kirk a Nazi. Now she’s suing."