Former Virginia firefighter's suit alleging firing over arrest at Trump inauguration can go to trial

A former Henrico County firefighter’s suit alleging her rights were violated when she was fired following her arrest at a demonstration during the inauguration of President Donald Trump can now go to trial, a federal judge has ruled.

Rosa Dianne Roncales, who lost her job in April 2017, filed suit in 2019 alleging her free speech rights and due process rights were violated by four of her former fire department superiors and Henrico County. Last year, U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck dismissed the county as a defendant.

In a partially-redacted, 54-page opinion unsealed Thursday, Lauck held that there were issues of fact for a jury to decide and rejected a request for dismissal from fire officials named in the suit. Lauck also turned down a bid from Roncales for a ruling in her favor without a trial on her claim her due process rights were violated.

Roncales was arrested at the Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration in Washington. The suit says that Roncales attended the inauguration protest on her own time and wore nothing that would identify her as an employee or member of the Henrico Fire Department.

Read more: https://fredericksburg.com/news/state-and-regional/former-virginia-firefighters-suit-alleging-firing-over-arrest-at-trump-inauguration-can-go-to-trial/article_dd29459e-47ad-58ff-94b9-2988ba8653ea.html