A Southwest Airlines flight attendant got some good news last week from a jury in Dallas.
As reported by The Daily Wire, 20-year veteran flight attendant Charlene Carter was awarded $5.1 million by a jury last week after it found that Southwest fired her over her sincerely held religious beliefs, namely, being pro-life.
The outlet noted further:
Carter expressed her pro-life stance online and pushed back against the Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 556 union after the group, including president Audrey Stone, attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., in 2017. The event receives funding from Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion mill in the country.
“Today is a victory for freedom of speech and religious beliefs. 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,” Carter told FOX Business on Friday. “I am so humbled and thankful for today’s decision and for everyone who’s supported me these past five years, including the National Right to Work Foundation.”
The National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix also blasted the union after Carter won her case.
“No American worker should have to fear termination, intimidation, or any other reprisal merely for speaking out against having their own money spent, purportedly in their name, to promote an agenda they find abhorrent,” said Mix, who served pro-bono legal representation to Carter, according to reports.
“TWU union officials still enjoy the enormous government-granted privilege of being able to force airline workers to financially subsidize their activities as a condition of employment,” Mix noted further.
“While we’re proud to stand with Ms. Carter and are pleased by the verdict, there ultimately should be no place in American labor law for compelling workers to fund a private organization that violates their core beliefs,” he added.
The jury handed down its verdict after an eight-day trial in the courtroom of Dallas Judge Brantley Starr. Bloomberg Law reported that Starr had ruled on May 5 that it would be necessary for Carter to have a jury trial because of her claims of religious bias under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, retaliation claims under the Railway Labor Act, and alleged breach of duty of being provided fair representation.
If the decision stands, Carter would get a payment of $4.15 million from Southwest and an additional $950,000 from the union in mostly punitive damages, The Associated Press reported.
Southwest has vowed to appeal.
KNOW MORE:
More than two-thirds of Americans have favorable view of religious liberty