A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a former Yosemite National Park ranger who was fired last year after hanging a 66-foot transgender pride flag from El Capitan, the granite monolith that towers over the park’s main valley.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that Joslin, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, must follow the grievance process established by the Civil Service Reform Act before their claims can be heard in federal court. Because Joslin was still a probationary employee at the time of their termination in August 2025, the judge said, the appropriate venue is a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel — a process Joslin has already begun.
In her ruling, Thurston acknowledged that the civil service process leaves probationary employees with “very limited recourse” when a termination decision goes against them. But she noted that allowing probationary workers to bypass that process and take their complaints directly to court would give them more options than tenured employees have, creating what she described as an incongruous legal structure.
The Office of Special Counsel denied Joslin’s initial request to put their termination on hold while investigating whether the Park Service violated the law, according to court filings. A final determination from the office is expected in August.
Thurston dismissed Joslin’s employment-related claims without leave to amend — meaning Joslin cannot refile them in the same court — but specified the dismissal was “without prejudice to any future litigation in an appropriate venue.” She also denied a motion for a preliminary injunction, writing that because the complaint was dismissed, Joslin “cannot show they are likely to succeed on the merits.”
The ruling did not address the substance of Joslin’s allegation that their termination violated their First Amendment right to free speech.
Joslin, a biologist who studied bats, said they helped hang the flag on El Capitan for about two hours on the morning of May 20, 2025, before taking it down voluntarily. They said they did so on their day off, not while they were on duty. Joslin told the Associated Press last year that the act was meant to communicate that “We’re all safe in national parks.”
The termination letter, received in August 2025, accused Joslin of “failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct” and cited the flag incident. “You participated in a small group demonstration in an area outside the designated protest and demonstration area without a permit … and thus circumvented rules applicable to all park visitors,” the letter said. Many national parks designate “First Amendment areas” where groups of 25 or fewer people can protest without a permit; Yosemite has several such areas, including one in Yosemite Valley, where El Capitan is located.
Following their termination, Joslin posted a statement on Instagram saying: “I hung the flag in my free time, off-duty, as a private citizen. It flew for a total of two hours in the morning and then I took it down. El Capitan has had flags hung on it for decades and no one has EVER been punished for it.” They added: “I want my rights and I want my career back.”
Joslin’s lawsuit accused the National Park Service, the Department of Interior and other defendants of constitutional violations, including infringing Joslin’s free-speech rights. The complaint, according to court filings, described the termination as “vindictive, retaliatory, intended to communicate disapproval of a particular point of view.” Joslin said they know of no one else who has been punished for flying a flag on El Capitan.
The lawsuit also cited the Trump administration’s policies toward transgender people, pointing to the rollback of protections for trans individuals, the Defense Department’s ban on transgender service members, and what the complaint described as increased barriers from the Department of Health and Human Services for trans people seeking medical care. “The administration’s actions have sent a clear message: that trans people are not protected by this administration,” Joslin’s lawsuit said. The complaint also pointed to broad layoffs across federal agencies, including the National Park Service, where nearly a quarter of full-time employees have been laid off or departed.
After Thurston’s ruling, Joslin told the New York Times that the decision “isn’t a ‘win’ for the federal government,” adding: “This just slows down the process of allowing justice to be served for the American people and slows down allowing National Park Service employees to be effective stewards of public lands.” Joslin went on to say: “I understand the gravity of being let go for an identity that this administration has turned into an ideology.”
One day after Joslin’s flag display, the park instituted a rule prohibiting people from hanging banners, flags or signs larger than 15 square feet in areas designated as “wilderness” or “potential wilderness.” According to Yosemite’s website, those categories cover 94% of the park. The rule followed another high-profile demonstration from February 2025, when a group of demonstrators hung an upside-down American flag on El Capitan to protest the firing of National Park Service employees by the Trump administration.