Taylor Ozimek #
Introduction #
Taylor Ozimek is a biologist and Palm Beach County resident who was fired from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in September 2025 over a comment she wrote on a TikTok video of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The comment, “As Charlie Kirk once said…. Worth it,” appeared under a video of Kirk speaking before he was shot on a Utah university campus, and, according to her lawsuit, it referenced remarks Kirk had made in a past interview about the Second Amendment. In July 2026, Ozimek became the third FWC employee to sue Florida over a Kirk-related firing, alleging the state violated the First Amendment and seeking reinstatement to her job plus backpay. Her case joins a wave of litigation over employees fired across the country for social media posts about Kirk’s murder.
Background Information #
Before her firing, Ozimek had been employed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as a biologist for over a year, according to the report from the Ocala and USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida. Kirk, the subject of her comment, was a 31-year-old conservative influencer whose past statements on gun rights became central to the dispute over her firing. In a past interview discussing Second Amendment rights to bear arms, he had said, “I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” Kirk was shot on a Utah university campus, and Ozimek’s comment was left on a TikTok video of him speaking before the shooting.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #
The incident began with Ozimek’s comment on the TikTok video, where she wrote, “As Charlie Kirk once said…. Worth it.” Per the report, she was referencing Kirk’s past interview remark that he considered it “worth it” to have “some gun deaths every single year” in order to preserve the Second Amendment. FWC terminated her, and in a termination letter given to Ozimek dated Sept. 15, an FWC official said the reason for firing her was “based on a social media post made by you that is offensive in nature.” Unlike some other Kirk-related firings, Ozimek’s post did not get widespread attention on social media, according to the report.
Public Reaction and Consequences #
The firing produced no reported viral backlash against Ozimek, whose post, unlike that of fellow fired FWC biologist Brittney Brown, never spread widely; Brown’s Instagram repost went viral on the conservative Libs of TikTok page at a time when the account was blasting public workers online who spoke critically of Kirk. The concrete consequence was legal: Ozimek’s attorney is arguing in the lawsuit that being fired over her online comment is a violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech. Her complaint frames the comment as political expression, stating, “Plaintiff’s post was a political statement indicating her opposition to gun violence and her rejection of the Wild West culture encouraged by many Second Amendment proponents, including Mr. Kirk.” Because she was fired over what the lawsuit calls “protected political speech,” Ozimek is seeking reinstatement to her job plus backpay. FWC, for its part, has declined to discuss the matter: press secretary Ashlee Brahier Sklute said the agency does not comment on active litigation. With Ozimek’s suit, the agency has now been sued by all three employees it fired over posts about Kirk’s murder, in separate lawsuits alleging the state violated the First Amendment by firing them over protected speech.
Current Status #
Ozimek’s lawsuit is pending before U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, an Obama-appointed judge based in Tallahassee who has also been assigned the other two free speech lawsuits against FWC, according to the report. The suit was filed by early July 2026 and came more than a month after FWC agreed to pay nearly a half-million dollars to settle its first legal challenge from an employee fired over a Kirk post — Brittney Brown, a biologist in Panama City Beach, who received $485,000. A third case is also moving: in June 2026, an ex-dispatcher sued FWC after the agency fired her in September 2025 for commenting on Facebook about Kirk’s death. The report notes that the FWC cases unfold as multiple lawsuits over Kirk posts across the country are being settled, including a former Tennessee assistant professor who received $1.9 million and a former university administrator in Indiana who received $225,000, alongside Brown’s $485,000 settlement.
Impact on Their Career/Life #
The firing cost Ozimek a biologist position she had held for over a year, with her termination letter citing only that a social media post of hers was “offensive in nature,” and her employment now hinges on pending litigation in which she seeks reinstatement and backpay. Her case has become the third front in a broader legal reckoning over Kirk-related firings, in which employers across the country have paid settlements to workers they fired for posts about Kirk’s death. Whether the same outcome follows for Ozimek remains unresolved: as of the report’s publication in July 2026, her case had not produced a reported settlement, and her return to the wildlife agency depends on how the litigation before Judge Walker concludes.