Juli Briskman, who worked for the firm Akima as a market analyst, said the termination was a violation of her right to free speech, according to her complaint filed in a court in Virginia.

She was riding her bike on 28 October last year when President Trump’s motorcade passed her on its way to the White House.

She raised her left hand to make the offensive gesture and was captured in a photo by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski, which then went viral online.

Briksman used the photo in her social media accounts and was fired three days later by her employer, a military contractor.

Her complaint stated: “Plaintiff chose in her private time and in her capacity as a private citizen to express her disapproval of President Trump by extending her middle finger.

“Although many will disagree with Plaintiff’s message and her means of expressing it, there can be no doubt that such speech is at the very core of the First Amendment and the Virginia Constitution,” it added.