A former Southwest Airlines flight attendant who was fired over her stance on abortion was awarded $5.1 million in a lawsuit stemming back to 2017.
Charlene Carter was awarded the settlement after Southwest Airlines and the Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 556 fired Carter for posting her religious views on abortion online.
Carter said she was fired in March 2017 after criticizing the Union and its president, Audrey Stone, on social media for attending the Women’s March in Washington D.C. and protesting the pro-life stance.
Carter also sent messages to Stone indicating she supported an effort to recall the union leader.
After which, Carter says that Southwest managers forced her to attend meetings about her Facebook posts and her pro-life stance questioning her about why she posted them. Carter was fired a week later.
Carter, a 20-year veteran of Southwest, said the union did not fairly represent her and retaliated against her for expressing her views.
According to court documents, Southwest claims online posts on her Facebook page, in which she could be identified as a Southwest employee, were “highly offensive” and Stone claimed she was “harassed” by Carter.
The jury sided with Carter saying Southwest unlawfully discriminated against Carter because of her sincerely held religious beliefs.
According to a Press release, Carter resigned from the Union in 2013 after realizing her religious views did not align with those of the union, however, she was forced to pay union dues as a condition of her employment.
Southwest said Friday that it “has a demonstrated history of supporting our employees’ rights to express their opinions when done in a respectful manner.” It plans to appeal. A lawyer for the union said jurors might have misunderstood the judge’s instructions, and it also plans to appeal.
