Trump-appointed judge orders Southwest lawyers to get 'religious-liberty training' by 'hate group': report

08 August 2023

United States District Court Judge Brantley Starr of the Northern District of Texas on Monday ordered three Southwest Airlines attorneys to attend "religious-liberty training" through the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Starr was nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2019 and confirmed to the federal bench in a 51-39 party-line vote by the then-Republican-controlled Senate.

Star wrote that "the airline twisted his words and disregarded his order in the case of a flight attendant who claimed that she was fired for expressing her opposition to abortion," reports David Koenig of the Associated Press. "Starr found Southwest in contempt for the way it explained the case to flight attendants last year after losing a jury verdict. In a blistering 29-page order, the judge said the airline acted as if its own policy limiting what employees can say is more important than a federal law protecting religious speech."

Koenig notes that "for Southwest, the sanctions add insult to injury. They stem from a roughly $800,000 judgment against the airline and the flight attendant's union. Although that was less than the jury's $5.1 million award, Charlene Carter also got her job back."

Carter had "sued Southwest for firing her in 2017 after she sent confrontational anti-abortion messages to her union’s former president. Carter argued she had been discriminated against based on her religious beliefs," writes The New Republic's Tori Otten.

In his latest decision, Otten continues, "Starr specifically mandated the lawyers take the training as part of court-ordered sanctions for religious discrimination. He described ADF as one of several 'esteemed non-profit organizations that are dedicated to preserving free speech and religious freedom.'"

Starr "also ordered Southwest to issue a statement telling its employees that the airline 'may not' engage in religious discrimination against them. Instead, Southwest said that it 'does not' do so, prompting Carter to demand additional sanctions against the company," Otten explains.

Otten also adds that "Carter had made no request for Southwest to undergo religious liberty training. ADF is not representing Carter, nor is it otherwise related to the case at all, so it's unclear why Starr felt the need to involve the group."

Otten's report continues at this link. Koenig's is here.

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