Airlines
US judge orders Southwest to reinstate flight attendant who sued the airline
The lady had said that the company and her union had planned to terminate her for expressing her opposition to abortion.
A federal judge reduced a flight attendant’s $5.1 million jury award to approximately $800,000, but she was still required to be rehired by Southwest Airlines. The lady had said that the company and her union had planned to terminate her for expressing her opposition to abortion.
Charlene Carter, a former flight attendant, claimed Southwest and Transport Workers Union Local 556 violated her rights by firing her after she sent the union’s former president confrontational anti-abortion messages. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr ruled that Southwest must reinstate Carter.
Carter claimed she was fired after sending strongly worded texts to the president of the flight attendants’ union, complaining that the official had attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., the day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January 2017. She termed the union leader “despicable.”
The president of Local 556 of the Transport Workers Union did not respond to that and other messages, but Southwest summoned Carter to a meeting and later fired her. In July, a Dallas jury found in Carter’s favour and ordered Southwest to pay Carter $4.15 million while the union was ordered to pay $950,000.
This week, the judge decreased the amount of the award to $300,000 in compensation and punitive damages for Southwest and $300,000 for the union, as well as $150,000 in back wages and nearly $60,000 in interest.
This Monday, the judge used a statement from a Southwest advertisement when he ordered the company to restore Carter. “Bags fly free with Southwest. “However, free expression did not fly with Southwest in this situation,” Starr wrote.
