Southwest Airlines pays pro-life flight attendant nearly $1 million

Southwest Airlines has paid a pro-life flight attendant nearly $1 million after she was fired for expressing her pro-life views.

Key Takeaways:

• Charlene Carter was fired from Southwest Airlines after she sent pro-life messages to the Transport Workers Union because the union was supporting the 2017 pro-abortion Women's March.

• Carter filed a lawsuit against Southwest and the Union, and a federal court sided with her.

• Southwest appealed, but the appeals court uphold the original ruling.

• Nine years after her case began, Carter was awarded nearly $1 million.

• Southwest is not out of the woods yet as the judge found the airline in contempt for its "misleading" messages to employees following a court order.

The Details:

Charlene Carter worked for Southwest Airlines for two decades before she she was fired from her job for standing up for her pro-life views.

In 2013, Carter resigned from the Transport Workers Union Local 556, but she was required to keep paying dues. Then, the union supported the 2017 pro-abortion Women's March, and Carter sent an allegedly "graphic" message to the union leadership expressing her disapproval and her pro-life views. The union president reported the messages to Southwest, and Carter was fired as a result.

Email communications revealed that members of the union mocked Carter for being unable to prevent her money from going to the pro-abortion cause. A union member called Carter an "incredibly dangerous" "cancerous tumor" that must be "eradicated when ever possible or it spreads." He also wrote that he was in favor of "targeted assassinations."

Carter filed a lawsuit and in 2022, a federal jury sided with her and ruled she was wrongly terminated. The court said that her messages were about religious expression and Southwest had not attempted a religious accommodation before firing her.

Southwest appealed, arguing that Carter's pro-life messages were a form of harassment, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision. U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr told the airline to reinstate Carter and pay her $810,000 in damages and $150,000 in back pay. The airline, however, did not do so.

Judge Starr held Southwest in contempt for failing to pay Carter, and last week, the airline finally followed through, paying her $946,102.87.

"Today is a victory for freedom of speech and religious beliefs," said Carter. "Flight attendants should have a voice and nobody should be able to retaliate against a flight attendant for engaging in protected speech against her union."

What's Happening Now:

The legal battle remains ongoing.

Judge Starr held Southwest in contempt for failing to comply with a court ordered notice to employees regarding religious discrimination. The airline sent "misleading" messages to employees by saying it "does not discriminate" against employees for religious beliefs while also warning them they should not engage in workplace communications similar as Carter's. That order was deemed to be inadequate.

According to Live and Let's Fly, the district court is still considering if Southwest should face additional penalties as a result.