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Aug 20, 2025, 1:50 PM ET

Court: Firefighter terminated for ‘anti-abortion’ social media post can continue lawsuit

Issues·By Bridget Sielicki

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an Arkansas firefighter who lost his job after posting “anti-abortion” imagery to his Facebook page can proceed with a lawsuit arguing that he was unjustly fired.

Key Takeaways:

Steven Melton posted an “anti-abortion” image to his personal Facebook page in June 2020.
He was fired from his job as a firefighter in Forrest City, Arkansas, as a result of the post.
He filed a lawsuit against the city, which was initially dropped in trial court.
After an appeal, the Eighth Circuit Court has ruled that he does have standing to sue.

The Details:

In June 2020, firefighter Steven Melton of Forrest City, Arkansas, posted a picture to his personal Facebook page of “a black-and-white image… that depicted a silhouette of a baby in the womb with a rope around its neck.”

According to the court documents, “His intent was to convey that he was ‘antiabortion.'”

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The court brief continues:

Two weeks after he posted it, a retired fire-department supervisor complained to Melton that he thought it looked like a noose around the neck of a black child. It upset him because the caption of the image, “I can’t breathe!,” was associated with the protests surrounding George Floyd’s death. Melton agreed to delete it immediately.

Though Melton removed his Facebook post, he was called to a meeting with Mayor Cedric Williams, who decided to fire Melton due to the post’s “egregious nature.” Williams stated that he had received complaints from city council members, police officers, and the public over the Facebook post.

Melton learned about his termination through the local news, with Williams conceding that the decision was due to the post, and that Melton’s years of service had otherwise been “unblemished.”

Melton then filed a lawsuit against Williams and against Forrest City, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights. The case was initially dismissed in trial court, but the decision by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed that decision, sending the case back to the lower court.

In its ruling, the circuit court ruled that individuals generally have a right to post on their private social media accounts. The court also ruled that the city would have to prove that Melton’s post negatively impacted fire department operations, as it noted that while Williams did cite complaints from citizens and police officers, no complaints came from Melton’s fellow firefighters.

The Bottom Line:

Melton is being represented by attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which praised the circuit court’s ruling.

“All Americans should be free to express viewpoints and ideas without fear of government punishment. When the government decides which topics are appropriate for debate, we all lose,” stated Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer. “The 8th Circuit rightly recognized that the First Amendment’s bar on heckler’s vetoes protects the full-bodied discussions necessary for public debate.”

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