A former legal secretary claiming she was fired from her job after posting Facebook messages critical of President Donald Trump has sued the all-Republican Court of Criminal Appeals and Judge Kevin Yeary.

Olga Zuniga alleged she worked for 14 years as a legal secretary for Texas' highest appellate court for criminal cases, and had positive reviews from both the court and Yeary, until he learned that Zuniga posted negative comments about Trump, according to a recent complaint she filed in an Austin U.S. District Court.

Yeary, a Republican elected to the court in 2014, served as Zuniga's supervisor and didn't raise any issues about her performance issues until he noticed that Zuniga's political beliefs were different than his, the suit claims. He called Zuniga into his office and “counseled her” about her Facebook posts on Nov. 9, 2016, the day after Trump was elected president, according to her complaint.

Zuniga alleges she was later fired, on Oct. 11, 2017, two weeks after Yeary searched Zuniga's Facebook page and found more political posts of which he disapproved. The complaint claims Yeary terminated her because of the posts and falsely accused her of failing to record leave on a time sheet when she allegedly left the office before 5 p.m.

Yeary and the court also allegedly fought to keep Zuniga from obtaining unemployment benefits, and the complaint notes that Yeary wrote a statement to the Texas Workforce Commission stating that Zuniga's Facebook postings were the reason for her firing.

“Yeary wrote that many of her Facebook posts 'had a distinct political edge and which indicated what appeared to be clear political biases,'” the complaint alleges. “While Yeary stated some of Ms. Zuniga's posts used 'vulgar' or inappropriate language, Yeary was a supporter of President Trump who has publicly used 'vulgar' or inappropriate language, and Yeary himself used such language at times in the office.”

Zuniga claims that Yeary and the court violated her First Amendment rights by firing her over political speech.

“The court and defendant Yeary knew or should have known of Ms. Zuniga's First Amendment right to speak on matters of public concern,” the complaint alleges. “This protection from government retaliation against public employees for speaking on matters of public concern was clearly established at the time defendants terminated Ms. Zuniga's employment.”

Yeary didn't return a call for comment. A spokesperson for the Texas Attorney's General Office, which is responsible for defending Yeary and the court in the case, declined to comment .

Robert W. Schmidt, an Austin attorney who represents Zuniga, said he filed the federal lawsuit after attempting to resolve the matter privately with the court and Yeary, “but they refused to speak with us.”

“I feel passionately about this case,” Schmidt said. “She had worked for the court for 14 years and worked for Judge Yeary for two years, and this only became a concern after President Trump was elected. It's just wrong.''

“She was a good public servant, and if we're going to start having political tests to become a secretary or janitor to work for the state, I don't want in a country like that,” Schmidt added, noting that federal law provides especially strong protections for the free speech rights of public sector employees.

“The law is different for private employers versus the government. A private employee might be able to be punished for this,” Schmidt said. “But when the government punishes someone because of their speech, that's a very different thing. And that's what the Constitution prohibits.''