This archive report was first published on 14 July 2019.
On October 28, 2017, a woman cyclist in Virginia, USA, made headlines after she raised her middle finger towards President Donald Trump's motorcade as he was departing from the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
The cyclist, later identified as Juli Briskman, a 50-year-old mother of two and a marketing executive with Akima LLC, a United States government contracting firm, was reportedly fired by her employer last week over the incident.
According to Briskman, her employer summoned her to a meeting, a day after she reported to the Human Resources department that she was the woman cyclist in the viral image. The management told her that they classified the viral image as “lewd” or “obscene” and determined that it violated the firm’s social media policies after she posted it on her Facebook page and Twitter account.
However, Briskman explained to the firm’s executives that the photograph wasn’t taken during working hours and that in her social media posts, both on Facebook and Twitter accounts, she never mentioned her employers. She also questioned her hasty dismissal by the management considering a male colleague of hers was allegedly allowed to stay on his job after deleting a social media post that the firm’s management determined to be offensive in a separate incident.
Despite losing her job, Briskman said she did not regret making the gesture to President Trump. She told the Huffington Post that, “In some ways, I’m doing better than ever.” Adding that, “I’m angry about where our country is right now. I am appalled. This was an opportunity for me to say something.”
Since her firing, Briskman has received over half a million job offers and counting, from employers both large and small, from every state in the union. Some potential employers have pleaded with her to work for them.
“She’s my ‘shero,” exclaims Lucy Clementori, an owner of a chain of fitness centers in the Southwest promising to hire Ms. Briskman, sight unseen. “She can take over our spin classes and teach everyone that great presidential salute!”
