A former employee at the FBI is suing the bureau after he was allegedly fired for displaying a Pride flag in his workspace. The flag has been offered to him in recognition of his work on the shooting at the Pulse nightclub, a gay club, in 2016.
David Maltinsky filed a lawsuit against the bureau, FBI Director Kash Patel, the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Nov. 19.
David Maltinsky was given a Pride flag to recognize his work on the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando
Maltinsky worked for the FBI for over 16 years as an operational support role, then in an intelligence role. He later started his agent training and was approved as a special agent in April, according to The Washington Post.
Patel said Maltinsky had “exercised poor judgment with an inappropriate display of political signage in [his] work area during [his] previous assignment at the Los Angeles Field Office,” according to the lawsuit.
The only signage Malinsky has in his workspace was a Pride flag that had been given to him by the Los Angeles Field Office for his support during the shooting at the Pulse nightclub, a gay club, in June 2016 in Orlando. The FBI “encouraged and honored” Malinsky for his work on the shooting and two Pride flags had been given to him “in special recognition” of his work, per the lawsuit.
David Maltinsky was reportedly the only FBI employee fired over ‘inappropriate display of political signage’
In January 2025, an FBI employee reported the flag to Maltinsky’s supervisor, who said that “in the supervisor’s view, the display of the flag was entirely permissible and appropriate.”
In June, Maltinsky removed the flag while clearing out his workspace as he had been approved as an FBI special agent. He was set to start a 19-week training program at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. In October, three weeks before graduation, he received a termination letter.
“Maltinsky displayed a flag provided to him by the FBI at his own personal workstation, speaking entirely as a private individual and with the permission of his superiors,” the lawsuit says.
Federal employees have been allowed to display emblems such as the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag, an anti-government flag, or the Blue Lives Matter flag, according to the lawsuit. It is alleging that Maltinsky’s firing was in violation of his First and Fifth Amendment rights. It is also asking for him to be reinstated and award backpay.