Akima did not immediately return requests for comment.
Briskman does not have many legal options for challenging the company’s decision. Virginia is an employment-at-will state, which means that an employer can fire “any employee at any time, for any reason, or for no reason,” according to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry website. “As a general rule, therefore, the employee has no right to challenge the termination.”
Akima’s decision to fire Briskman has renewed a heated conversation regarding freedom of speech in the workplace. In August, Google fired software engineer James Damore for circulating a controversial diversity manifesto. That same month, Cole White was fired from his job at Berkeley-based hot dog vendor Top Dog because of his participation in a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Though different, all three instances highlight the same fact: Political speech in or out of the office can get you fired.
Still, the cyclist says she does not regret her decision. She tells HuffPost that in the future she hopes to work for an organization like Planned Parenthood or PETA. “In some ways, I’m doing better than ever,” she says. “I’m angry about where our country is right now. I am appalled. This was an opportunity for me to say something.”
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