Southwest Airlines Co. was denied a further stay of a Texas federal judge’s order requiring three of its in-house lawyers to attend religious liberty training. This follows the airlines’ failure to comply with a pro-life employee’s award in a discrimination lawsuit.
Judge Brantley Starr ordered that by Sept. 26, Southwest’s lawyers must attend religious liberty training, conducted through the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Starr dismissed the airlines’ claims that the ADF is an “ideological organization” as a “complaint rather than a legal objection.” Southwest continues to pursue its appeal with the Fifth Circuit following its jury trial loss to Charlene Carter.
Southwest’s argument that it had significantly complied with the original injunctive relief was refuted by Starr. The airline failed to provide necessary information about federal anti-bias law in a notice to flight attendants and instead issued a memorandum suggesting that Carter’s firing was justified.
The judge also refuted Southwest’s assertion that ordering the involved lawyers to undergo training was akin to “impermissible criminal contempt sanction.” The training, specifically designed to deal with religious liberty, is “expressly connected” to the airline’s noncompliance, according to the court.
In Starr’s view, the Alliance Defending Freedom was chosen for its proven understanding of religious liberty, as demonstrated by the “multiple Supreme Court cases” they have won in recent years. The court maintains that the training will not harm Southwest, on the contrary, it will provide a better understanding of religious freedom, benefiting both Carter and other Southwest flight attendants.
Charlene Carter, the employee behind the discrimination lawsuit, was awarded over $5 million against Southwest and the union in July 2022. Starr later reduced the verdict to $600,000 and ordered an additional $210,000 for back pay, interest, and required Southwest to reinstate her as a flight attendant.
Considering Southwest’s slim chances of overturning the verdict on appeal, this sequence of events once again ruled against Southwest, opting against an administrative stay.
The case, Carter v. Transport Workers Union of Am. Local 556, evidently continues to shape the intersection of religious freedom and corporate policy.