PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-1782

MARTIN MISJUNS,

Plaintiff – Appellant,

v.

CITY OF LYNCHBURG,

Defendant – Appellee,

and

LYNCHBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT; MARY JANE TOUSIGNANT DOLAN, in her official capacity; BEAU WRIGHT, in his official capacity; REID WODICKA, in his official capacity,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Lynchburg. Robert S. Ballou, District Judge. (6:21-cv-00025-RSB-CKM)

Argued: March 20, 2025 Decided: June 5, 2025

Before WILKINSON, GREGORY, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Gregory wrote the opinion, in which Judge Wilkinson and Judge Quattlebaum joined. Judge Wilkinson wrote a concurring opinion. USCA4 Appeal: 24-1782 Doc: 36 Filed: 06/05/2025 Pg: 2 of 18

ARGUED: Richard D. Boyer, INTEGRITY LAW FIRM, PLLC, Lynchburg, Virginia; James Fairchild, FAIRCHILD & YODER, PLLC, Forest, Virginia, for Appellant. Jennifer Royer, ROYER LAW FIRM, P.C., Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee.

2 USCA4 Appeal: 24-1782 Doc: 36 Filed: 06/05/2025 Pg: 3 of 18

GREGORY, Circuit Judge:

This case concerns the firing of a Lynchburg Fire Department employee following

offensive social media posts attacking transgender individuals. After public outcry and an

internal investigation, the City of Lynchburg terminated Martin Misjuns from his position

as Fire Captain. Misjuns then brought suit against the City, alleging a mix of constitutional,

statutory, and common law claims. The district court dismissed all of Misjuns’ claims. On

review, we affirm the district court’s dismissal.

I.

Martin Misjuns was employed as a Fire Captain and paramedic by the City of

Lynchburg as part of the Lynchburg Fire Department (“LFD”). J.A. 3, 75. He was also a

union representative with IAFF Local 1146, the Lynchburg division of the International

Association of Fire Fighters labor union, and Ward I Chair for the Lynchburg Republican

City Committee. J.A. 3, 9.

Before the events that serve as the basis of this suit, there were already deep-seated

tensions between Misjuns and the City. For example, Misjuns alleged that LFD engaged

in “discriminatory training and promotion practices” against him in 2019 and 2020. J.A.

5. He also alleged politically-motivated actions. In spring 2020, IAFF Local 1146 and

Misjuns supported Republican candidates for Lynchburg City Council who ran against

candidates supported by the Democratic majority on City Council, including Defendants

Mayor Mary Dolan and Vice-Mayor Beau Wright. J.A. 3, 8–9. One of the Deputy Fire

Chiefs allegedly “began a pattern of harassing behavior” against Misjuns, including

3 USCA4 Appeal: 24-1782 Doc: 36 Filed: 06/05/2025 Pg: 4 of 18

sending him a text message that he did not approve of Local 1146’s post supporting the

Republican candidates. J.A. 9.

While this is important context, our case centers on Misjuns’ Facebook posts.

Misjuns maintained two Facebook pages: one, a personal page identifying him as “Marty

Misjuns”; the other, a public figure page, identifying him as “Martin J. Misjuns, Ward I

Chair - Lynchburg Republican City

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