Politics & Government

County Fire Battalion Chief Fights Dismissal Over Facebook Posts

The Howard County firefighter said his post proposing to 'kill ... a liberal' was a joke.


An officer in the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county after being fired for what the lawsuit states were personal posts on his Facebook page.

According to the complaint, Battalion Chief Kevin P. Buker, a former Marine, was working a 24-hour shift on Jan. 20 when he posted the following message to his Facebook account: "My aide had an outstanding idea .... Let's kill someone with a liberal ... then maybe we can get them outlawed too! Think of the satisfaction of beating a liberal with another liberal ... its almost poetic...."

One of Buker's Facebook friends, Mark Grutzmacher, a Howard County volunteer firefighter, then commented on the post, according to the lawsuit, stating, "But ... was it an '[assault] liberal'? Gotta pick a fat one, those are the 'high capacity' ones. Oh pick a black one, those are more 'scary.' Sorry had to perfect on a [sic] cool idea!"

Buker then liked Grutzmacher's comment and posted in reply "Lmfao! Too cool, Mark Grutzmacher."

At the time, the winter of 2012-2013, the country was embroiled in a debate over gun control following the Dec. 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

The posts later came to the attention of officials at the fire department. In the lawsuit, Assistant Chief John Jerome was identified as the officer who discussed the posts with Buker. Jerome ordered Buker to remove the post on Jan. 22, which Buker did on Jan. 23.

When Buker removed it, he posted a comment stating, "To prevent future 'butthurt' and comply with a directive from my supervisor, a recent post (meant entirely in jest) has been deleted... If I offend you, feel free to delete me. Or converse with me. I'm not scared or ashamed of my opinions or political leaning, or religion," court documents stated.

Buker's comment after removing the post generated more back-and-forth conversation between his Facebook friends, one of which stated "as long as it isn't about the FD, shouldn't you be able to express your opinions?" 

Buker responded by stating, "Unfortunately, not in the current political climate. Howard County, Maryland, and the Federal Government are all Liberal Democrat held at this point in time. Free speech only applies to the liberals, and then only if it After [sic] tis in line with the liberal socialist agenda."

Buker added that the county recently published a social media policy and the fire department adopted its own that is "suitably vague enough that any post is likely to result in disciplinary action," including his, according to the lawsuit.

It's unclear how Buker's post came to the attention of the department, according to the complaint, but on Jan. 25, the department removed Buker from field operations.

Later, on Feb. 17, an unnamed volunteer firefighter for the county posted on his personal Facebook page a picture of an elderly woman with her middle finger extended. According to the complaint, beneath the picture the comment stated, "This page, yeah the one you're looking at, it's mine. I'll post whatever the f--k I want."

Buker liked the post that same day, according to the lawsuit. Three weeks later, the county fired Buker on March 6, according to the complaint. Grutzmacher was also terminated.

Fire Chief William F. Goddard sent two memos to Buker, one before he was fired and one after, that stated he violated sections of the county's code, social media guidelines and the Howard County Maryland Employee Manual, according to the lawsuit.

In the complaint filed in U.S District Court, Buker's lawyers argue that his speech is protected under the First Amendment. The complaint states that the county never identified any disruption to the workplace because of the posts.

Howard County Solicitor Margaret Ann Nolan provided a statement to the Howard County Times that said the termination did not violate the law and that the county will present specific arguments for its actions in written responses filed in court.

The county has until Nov. 12 to respond to the lawsuit, in which Buker, who was paid $103,659, is asking for back pay, benefits, attorney fees and compensatory payment for mental anguish and distress, according to the Howard County Times report.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 12.


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