A National Park Service worker fired after hanging a transgender pride flag at Yosemite National Park has sued in federal district court in Washington, D.C., alleging First Amendment violations, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The lawsuit is the latest milestone in debates over what kind of speech is protected at work and the rights that federal employees have in sharing personal views.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the National Park Service and the departments of Interior and Justice, as well as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Last May, Shannon "SJ" Joslin was among a group of seven climbers, which included other Park Service employees, who ascended the El Capitan granite formation and hung a 55-foot-by-35-foot transgender pride flag to protest Trump administration attempts to roll back rights for those who identified as trans.
Joslin, who is nonbinary and had about four weeks left in a two-year probationary period, took part in the flag-hanging display on a day off from work.
The National Park Service fired the 36-year-old nearly three months later.
The termination notice said that Joslin failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct during employment and the flag display took place in an area where such demonstrations aren't allowed.
In addition, the National Park Service informed Joslin that a criminal investigation had been opened into the situation.
Joslin is asking to be reinstated as a Park Service employee and to be awarded damages. Joslin also asked for the criminal inquiry to be halted. Joslin, stated, "I don't want there to be any indication that our constitutional rights only exist for those at the top."
Although government employees give up some personal freedoms on the job to remain nonpartisan civil servants, whether — and when — these workers have a right to speak openly has been the subject of many prior legal cases, according to the Journal.
There is often a balancing test between individual rights and disruption to agency operations to determine if an employee's speech is protected.
The speech must also be made in the employee's capacity as a private citizen on a matter of public concern, which Joslin's lawyers argue applies to the transgender flag display.
Several unions representing national park workers issued a statement last month backing Joslin's reinstatement and right to free speech.
Joslin began working as a wildlife biologist in Yosemite in 2021, eventually managing the park's wildlife data and bat conservation program.
After attending a demonstration against federal workforce cuts early last year, Joslin wanted to organize a group of climbers to support the trans community. They found El Capitan a proper place to make a statement after scouting a location to hang the flag over several weeks.
Yosemite has designated "First Amendment areas" for demonstrations and other activities that could potentially damage park resources, but El Capitan, with its 3,000-foot-tall rock face, isn't one of the areas where protests are allowed.
Despite this, carrying and displaying a flag on El Capitan has long been part of the culture of Yosemite rock-climbers.
Last year, an upside-down American flag was hung there to protest cuts to Park Service staff. Climbers have also displayed flags calling for climate-change awareness and to end the killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Joslin's lawyers argue that no punishment was given to other, similar El Capitan flag bearers. They say that with Joslin's firing, the federal government violated the First Amendment by engaging in viewpoint discrimination.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.