JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A lieutenant with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has been suspended for a controversial social media post, according to the Florida Times-Union.
This news comes not long after ESPN fired a high-profile baseball analyst for a social media post involving the transgender bathroom issue.
News4Jax first learned of the story involving Lt. Trudy Callahan in February. She was under investigation for what some described as a racist Instagram post.
"I can tell you at first look it's unprofessional. It's not indicative of what a lieutenant in our agency should be involved in. Beyond that I can't really comment I don't want to taint the investigation," Sheriff Mike Williams told News4Jax in February.
The Florida Times-Union is reporting that Callahan has been suspended for 10 days. The newspaper reports that Callahan testified to internal affairs that the post was being “taken out of context and twisted and turned to fit people’s agendas” The paper says it was a shared image of a composite image of a black man from another city with a caption that included the "N" word.
ESPN recently fired Curt Schilling for commenting on a picture that was on Facebook. Local defense attorney Rhonda Peoples-Waters spoke on these cases to News4Jax. She says it goes to show when you work for a company or police agency freedom of speech only goes so far.
"Certainly when you’re employed even when you’re off the job you’re still on the job because usually employers will still have a code of conduct rule that will still say you have to have a type of personal conduct that will not look bad on the business," Waters said.
Both Schilling and Callahan had issues in the past. Schilling had made headlines in the past by comparing Muslims to Nazis and Callahan had nearly 50 complaints filed against her since she joined JSO in 1996. Peoples-Waters adds that even if you post something on social media in your private time particularly if you have an organization you represent, it can be scrutinized.
"If you were more so in the public eye then there’s much more public scrutiny to your social media accounts, so when you’re in the public eye I believe there’s a higher standard to make sure you conform to on-job conduct that’s expected," Waters Said.
Callahan stepped down from the board of directors for the police union in February.