David Maltinsky, a gay former FBI agent, who helped train operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja, has sued the United States government for wrongful dismissal from the agency over his political views.

The lawsuit was filed at the United States District Court District of Columbia on November 19, 2025, with the FBI, the agency’s director Kash Patel, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the United States Department of Justice listed as defendants.

According to court filings, the incident occurred on October 1, 2025, when he was served with a termination letter signed by Mr Patel, notifying him that he had been relieved of his position just as he was successfully coming out of 16 weeks of the FBI Academy’s 19-week training program.

In the letter, Mr Patel accused Mr Maltinsky of displaying political signage, an LGBTQ flag, in his work area at the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, which the director deemed to have broken the agency’s policy and made the decision to fire him, court documents said.

His work at the FBI also took him to Scotland in November 2023 as part of a group of agents from the Los Angeles Field Office that assisted in investigating SIM-swapping scams in the United Kingdom.

This led Mr Maltinsky, whose duties during his time at the FBI included an October 2021 work tour in Nigeria, where he trained the country’s anti-graft agency on fighting cybercrimes, to file the lawsuit against the American government, arguing that his rights were violated.

As per his filings, the litigant, who joined the FBI in 2009, argued that he was apparently targeted because of his sexual orientation, adding that the decision to fire him because of that is against the freedom of speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Subsequently, Mr Maltinsky prayed for court rulings finding that the defendants violated his First and Fifth Amendment rights, and for an order directing the FBI to immediately reinstate the litigant.

He is also seeking the court to award backpay, benefits, and monetary benefits he might have missed because of his dismissal, as well as reimbursement for the costs of action and reasonable attorney fees.