WASHINGTON (AP) — A veteran FBI employee training to become a special agent was fired last month for displaying at his workspace an LGBTQ+ flag, which had previously flown outside a field office, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
David Maltinsky had worked at the FBI for 16 years and was nearly finished with special agent training in Quantico, Virginia, when he was called into a meeting last month with FBI officials, given a letter from Director Kash Patel and told he was being “summarily dismissed” over the inappropriate display of political signage, Maltinsky's lawsuit said.
The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District court in Washington, said Maltinsky had been a decorated intelligence specialist working in the Los Angeles field office and most recently was pursuing a longtime dream of becoming a special agent.
In June 2021, the Los Angeles field office displayed a “Progress Pride” flag, which consists of a rainbow-colored horizontal stripes and a chevron with black, brown, pink, light blue, and white colors. It's meant to represent people of color, as well as the LGBTQ+ community. Maltinsky was given that flag after it had come down and was then displayed at his Los Angeles field office workstation with the support and permission of his supervisors, according to the lawsuit.
In April, he began training at the FBI Academy to become a special agent and had successfully completed 16 of the 19 weeks of training at the time of his firing, the lawsuit stated.
Maltinsky said in the suit he helped lead diversity initiatives during his time at the bureau as well. President Donald Trump issued an exeuctive order in January ending all diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the government.
Recommended for you
The suit names Patel, the FBI, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department as defendants.
The FBI declined to comment. A message seeking comment on behalf of the Justice Department wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.
Among other things, Maltinsky is seeking reinstatement to his position along with an order declaring that the defendants violated his First Amendment rights to speech and Fifth Amendment rights to equal protection under the law.
Maltinsky's attorney Christopher M. Mattei called the firing an unlawful attack.
“This case is about far more than one man’s career — it’s about whether the government can punish Americans simply for saying who they are,” Mattei said in a statement.
Other lawsuits challenging the bureau's personnel moves have been filed since President Donald Trump's second term began. In September, three high-ranking FBI officials said in a lawsuit they were fired in a “campaign of retribution” carried out by a director who knew better but caved to political pressure from the Trump administration.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.