Southwest Airlines agreed to issue an updated anti-discrimination statement to its flight attendants to resolve a contempt finding in a lawsuit in which a former flight attendant claimed that her stance on abortion resulted in her being fired. The case is Carter v. Transport Workers Union of America Local 556, Case Number 3:17-cv-02278, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
In 2017, Charlene Carter sued Southwest and Local 556 of the Transport Workers Union of America, alleging wrongful termination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Railway Labor Act. Southwest fired Carter, a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, after she sent the flight attendants’ union president graphic images and videos of aborted fetuses.
In 2022, a jury found for Carter and awarded her $5 million in damages, later reduced to $800,000. Carter claimed retaliation and discrimination by the union after she raised concerns that the union was using funds to send members to a Women’s March in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Planned Parenthood. As part of that verdict, the trial court judge ordered Southwest to notify its flight attendants of the verdict; instead, Southwest issued a statement that it “does not discriminate” against employees. This statement prompted Carter to request a contempt finding against the airline.
In response, the judge held Southwest in contempt for failing to issue the statement required by the court order. As part of the sanction, the judge ordered three of the airline’s in-house lawyers to attend religious liberty training from a Christian legal organization and to issue a new verbatim statement about the verdict.
On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the jury verdict and the contempt order. However, the Fifth Circuit rejected the training portion of the trial court’s order and remanded the case to impose a “remedial” and “narrowly tailored” sanction.
In March, after the judge called for briefs on the contempt sanctions issue, Southwest filed a brief acknowledging and apologizing for its failure to comply with the judgment. The company also told the court it had implemented new compliance procedures for its legal department and changed internal policies to protect its workers' religious rights against discrimination.
Carter proposed criminal sanctions against Southwest for potentially deliberate defiance of the court order. However, the judge rejected further civil or criminal contempt damages against the company because it acknowledged the court's order and apologized. Nonetheless, the judge ordered the parties to appear at a hearing before he issued a final ruling on contempt sanctions.
A day before the scheduled hearing, the parties reached a proposed agreed-upon sanction that the judge accepted. Under this agreement, Southwest had to email flight attendants an updated statement within seven days. The memo was to inform the flight attendants that its 2022 memo was incorrect and explicitly state that Southwest “may not” discriminate based on employees’ religious beliefs or practices. Southwest also agreed to pay Carter about $217,000 in attorney’s fees to purge itself of contempt.
In addition to the agreed order on contempt sanctions, the trial judge amended the final judgment to order Southwest and a union local to each pay Carter damages. The order also reaffirmed the court’s 2022 order, which ordered Southwest to reinstate her position as a flight attendant with full seniority and benefits.
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