DALLAS, TX – A federal judge has ordered Southwest Airlines to send three of its corporate attorneys to religious liberty training after the airline failed to follow a judge’s orders concerning a flight attendant who was fired for expressing her beliefs about abortion on social media.
“Charlene Carter, who had been on the job for more than 20 years, was fired after she posted a series of social media messages slamming the flight attendant union boss for attending the anti-Trump, pro-abortion Women’s March in Washington, DC, in January 2017," reported the New York Post.
Carter took her wrongful termination case to arbitration but lost. She subsequently filed a lawsuit against Southwest and won.
In July of last year, a jury decided that Southwest wrongfully terminated Carter on the grounds of religious discrimination. That jury also instructed the company to reinstate the flight attendant and awarded her $4.15M in back pay, pain and suffering, and additional costs.
The judge reduced that penalty substantially to $810,180, citing limitations on damages allowed by federal discrimination laws.
The judge also issued a mandate for the airline to notify all employees of their rights against religious discrimination.
Instead, Southwest sent an internal company memo detailing exactly why Carter was terminated.
As such, District Court Judge Brantley Starr instructed the training with Alliance Defending Freedom.
According to NBC News, the judge has given the three until August 28, 2023 to attend and complete the eight-hour block of training.
Per the Simple Flying website, Starr’s decision stated, “The Court concludes that training on religious freedom for three lawyers at Southwest the Court finds responsible (Kerrie Forbes, Kevin Minchey, and Chris Maberry) is the least restrictive means of achieving compliance with the Court’s order."
Legal experts are now debating as to whether the judge’s appointment of ADF was an overreach on his part, or if they should have found a “less polarizing” group to facilitate the training.
Others argue that the ruling could be a violation of the attorney’s Constitutional rights, especially if they espouse different religious practices apart from the Christian faith.
“The court is moving into some really dangerous territory here,” said David Lopez, a law professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and former counsel under the Obama administration.
ADF chief legal counsel, Jim Campbell, issued a statement, saying in part that his group was happy to help provide the training needed to educate companies on laws barring religious discrimination.
“Every company should respect religious liberty and diverse viewpoints in the workplace,” the statement said.
While the ADF is a conservative, Christian organization, they state on their website that they “promote the freedom of every person to live out their religious convictions in the public square, just as in the home or a place of worship.”
Southwest plans to appeal the decision, arguing that there is no need for religious freedom training and that it actually did comply with the judge’s order, while also saying that they could provide a corrective notice to the memo they issued to employees to include the notification of rights against discrimination.
“Southwest Airlines has a demonstrated history of supporting our employees’ rights to express their opinions when done in a respectful manner. We are in the process of assessing the requirements of the recent judgment as we move forward with our plans for an appeal,” said airline spokeswoman, Brandy King.
“Charlene Carter, who had been on the job for more than 20 years, was fired after she posted a series of social media messages slamming the flight attendant union boss for attending the anti-Trump, pro-abortion Women’s March in Washington, DC, in January 2017," reported the New York Post.
Carter took her wrongful termination case to arbitration but lost. She subsequently filed a lawsuit against Southwest and won.
In July of last year, a jury decided that Southwest wrongfully terminated Carter on the grounds of religious discrimination. That jury also instructed the company to reinstate the flight attendant and awarded her $4.15M in back pay, pain and suffering, and additional costs.
The judge reduced that penalty substantially to $810,180, citing limitations on damages allowed by federal discrimination laws.
The judge also issued a mandate for the airline to notify all employees of their rights against religious discrimination.
Instead, Southwest sent an internal company memo detailing exactly why Carter was terminated.
As such, District Court Judge Brantley Starr instructed the training with Alliance Defending Freedom.
According to NBC News, the judge has given the three until August 28, 2023 to attend and complete the eight-hour block of training.
Per the Simple Flying website, Starr’s decision stated, “The Court concludes that training on religious freedom for three lawyers at Southwest the Court finds responsible (Kerrie Forbes, Kevin Minchey, and Chris Maberry) is the least restrictive means of achieving compliance with the Court’s order."
Legal experts are now debating as to whether the judge’s appointment of ADF was an overreach on his part, or if they should have found a “less polarizing” group to facilitate the training.
Others argue that the ruling could be a violation of the attorney’s Constitutional rights, especially if they espouse different religious practices apart from the Christian faith.
“The court is moving into some really dangerous territory here,” said David Lopez, a law professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and former counsel under the Obama administration.
ADF chief legal counsel, Jim Campbell, issued a statement, saying in part that his group was happy to help provide the training needed to educate companies on laws barring religious discrimination.
“Every company should respect religious liberty and diverse viewpoints in the workplace,” the statement said.
While the ADF is a conservative, Christian organization, they state on their website that they “promote the freedom of every person to live out their religious convictions in the public square, just as in the home or a place of worship.”
Southwest plans to appeal the decision, arguing that there is no need for religious freedom training and that it actually did comply with the judge’s order, while also saying that they could provide a corrective notice to the memo they issued to employees to include the notification of rights against discrimination.
“Southwest Airlines has a demonstrated history of supporting our employees’ rights to express their opinions when done in a respectful manner. We are in the process of assessing the requirements of the recent judgment as we move forward with our plans for an appeal,” said airline spokeswoman, Brandy King.
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