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An experienced Federal Bureau of Investigation analyst has initiated a lawsuit claiming he was let go because of displaying a Pride flag in his desk area.

According to the plaintiff, who served for the FBI since 2009, the firing recently is being described as “improper and biased”.

Court Proceedings Alleges Free Speech Breaches

The lawsuit contends that the agency breached the plaintiff’s constitutional protections and engaged in punitive steps against him due to expressing constitutionally covered speech.

Maltinsky is asking for a court order to reinstate his job with the FBI.

Information from the Legal Filing

The 18-page lawsuit, filed in a Washington court in the nation’s capital, states that the plaintiff was dismissed from the Quantico facility recently because of previously showing the banner at his workstation.

As stated in the filing, the Pride flag was presented to the plaintiff in recognition of his efforts to promote the agency’s diversity initiatives.

Early on, all I have wanted to do was to serve the United States and ensure its security alongside the brilliant and dedicated personnel in the bureau,” said the plaintiff.

He further stated, “I displayed that banner – which once was displayed at the Los Angeles office – not for political reasons, but as a representation of acceptance, solidarity and impartial service.

These principles that once made the bureau effective. Now it is a place where people like me are targeted. I think I was dismissed not because of my person, but due to my being: a proud gay man,” he said.

Abrupt Dismissal Before Graduation

Recently, Maltinsky was accepted into the FBI special agent course in Virginia, until what he called “unexpected firing shortly before completion”.

The filing also claims that at some point after the presidential inauguration, another employee expressed a complaint to Maltinsky’s direct supervisor about the presence of the rainbow banner.

As a precaution, the plaintiff asked that the legal advisor for the local bureau examine if the presence of the LGBTQ+ banner was acceptable,” the filing noted.

It further mentioned, “The Chief Division Counsel informed the employee that the display of the banner did not violate the agency’s standards.”

Informing of Dismissal

Nevertheless, in early October, the plaintiff was notified of his termination.

In a document referenced in the lawsuit, agency head the director commented, “I have determined that you used improper judgment by exhibiting of political signage in your work area while previously assigned at the Los Angeles Field Office.

“Pursuant to Article II of the Constitution, and statutes of the nation, your employment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now ended.”

Lawyer Comment

In a release released recently, his attorney his counsel stated, “This administration’s unlawfully firing him forms part of a broader effort to remove government departments of workers with different viewpoints, or represent minority populations, or those who speak out against bias.

His case is not only for him, but about securing the rights and freedoms of all public servants.”

Bureau Response

The FBI refused to respond on the lawsuit.

Related Proceedings

This legal action comes after an additional filing filed in September by previous senior FBI officials that claimed they’d been improperly dismissed.

They stated that the director claimed he was directed by the administration to dismiss any official involved in a probe concerning Donald Trump.

At the same time, the agency dismissed an experienced official in November after the director allegedly grew upset by reports that the FBI director flown on a federal plane to go to a sports event where his girlfriend rendered the Star-Spangled Banner.

The official, an agency staffer for over two decades, was removed from leading the bureau’s emergency unit, which manages serious incidents and FBI planes.