As President Trump drove by in a motorcade, Juli Briskman decided to flip him off. Now, she’s out of a job.
Immediately, the picture went viral. Photographer Brendan Smialowski caught the infamous moment as the president was leaving Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va.
Although she was hard to identify in the picture, the cyclist told her employers at Akima LLC. They fired her immediately.
Briskman told The Washington Post, “I wasn’t even at work when I did that, but they told me I violated the code of conduct policy.”
Briskman proudly shared the image on her social media pages. Therefore, there’s more to the story than she lets on.
Akima LLC’s policy states:
Covered Social Media Activity that contains discriminatory, obscene malicious or threatening content, is knowingly false, create [sic] a hostile work environment, or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated and will be subject to discipline up to an [sic] including termination of employment.
Ironically, Briskman had flagged a senior director’s activity last month. His Facebook page indicates that he works at Akima. In a Black Lives Matter thread, he wrote, “You’re a f**king Libtard a**hole.”
Although he was punished, the offender was allowed to stay at the company. Virginia is an “employment-at-will” state, so Akima LLC is allowed to fire people at any time for any reason.
The woman was working in the organization’s marketing and communications department for about six months.
Briskman was shocked about the decision, but I think I can see the situation. While the senior director was most likely at the company for a while, Briskman was not. Moreover, her image went viral. While it was not her fault, she helped spur it on by posting the images herself.
Akima is a government contractor, so these images could ruin their business.
Juli Briskman doesn’t regret her choice.
He was passing by and my blood just started to boil. I’m thinking, DACA recipients are getting kicked out. He pulled ads for open enrollment in Obamacare. Only one-third of Puerto Rico has power. I’m thinking, he’s on the damn golf course again…I flipped off the motorcade a number of times
Next, she plans to work for an advocacy group. Planned Parenthood and PETA are at the top of her list. Nobody is surprised.
Lately, social media has become a hot issue in the political world.
