A federal judge allowed the Department of Defense on Sept. 4 to proceed with the firing of three Stars and Stripes employees who sued the Pentagon for wrongful termination.
Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and reporter Lara Korte at Stars and Stripes – a military news outlet that is partially funded by the Pentagon – claimed their dismissals were retaliatory and violated the First Amendment.
The journalists alleged in a lawsuit in late August that they were fired for “speaking up as private citizens in support of the press’s freedom to cover military operations.”
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden declined to grant the journalists’ request for a temporary restraining order to halt their termination, ruling on Sept. 4 that the Pentagon
likely did not violate the First Amendment by firing the journalists.
McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote in his ruling that the journalists are “unlikely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim and do not demonstrate irreparable harm.”
David Z. Seide, a lawyer representing the Stars and Stripes employees, said in a statement that “our clients are obviously disappointed and are reviewing the opinion.” The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
Lederer was ordered by a Pentagon official on Aug. 12 to fire Slavin and Korte for insubordination after they discussed fears of Stars and Stripes losing its editorial independence during an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning. Lederer was fired after he refused to terminate Slavin and Korte.
Korte said in the CBS Sunday Morning interview that she worked for Stars and Stripes, “not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.”
The journalists, however, alleged in the lawsuit that the Pentagon’s real motivation for firing them was an article about the deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Lincoln, which was published on Aug. 11 – a day before Lederer was instructed to issue termination notices to Slavin and Korte.
“Everyone deserves the right to a free and independent press, especially our service members,” Korte wrote in an Aug. 27 post on X. “This lawsuit is about safeguarding the mission of Stars and Stripes journalists so they can continue to do their jobs without fear or retaliation.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US Judge won’t stop Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes journalists
