Southwest Airlines and union defeated in win for free speech – Washington Examiner

A jury just awarded a flight attendant $5.3 million in a controversial case involving free speech rights.

Charlene Carter had been a Southwest Airlines flight attendant for more than 20 years when she was fired in March 2017 for violating the companys policies on social media use. Carter disagreed with the pro-choice stance of her union, the Transportation Workers Union of America Local 556, when associated flight attendants attended a pro-choice march in Washington. Carter didnt like the fact that her union dues were being used to support her colleagues' attendance, and she voiced her complaints to the union president via social media.

"This is what you supported during your paid leave with others at the Womens March in D.C.," she wrote in one Facebook message to Stone, according to the Dallas Morning News. "You truly are despicable in so many ways."

Stone reported Carter to Southwest Airlines, and they terminated her employment. Southwest said her Facebook posts were "highly offensive" and that her private messages were harassing. Carter obviously believed she had a right to speak her mind without facing unemployment. Carter filed suit and has been battling Southwest Airlines and the union in court for the past five years. She had actually left the union in 2013, but she was still required by the airline to pay union dues.

A federal jury in Texas sided with Carter, believing that she was unlawfully discriminated against for her sincerely held religious beliefs. The jury found that the union did not fairly represent her and retaliated against her for expressing her views. Although both the union and Southwest will likely appeal, if Carter prevails, she will be awarded $4.15 million from Southwest Airlines and $1.15 million from the union.

"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 said in a statement. "I am so humbled and thankful for todays decision and for everyone whos supported me these past five years, including the National Right to Work Foundation."

Carters case is unique in that it combines multiple hot-button issues: union representation and political advocacy versus personal beliefs, and the precarious line between free speech and company policies.

Still, Im actually surprised a jury found in Carters favor given company policies on harassment. While Carter certainly had the right to express her disappointment in what her union dues represented, its hard to believe the right to harass an employer publicly or privately would fall into that category. That said, its also difficult to make the case that Southwest had a right to fire Carter over her beliefs on abortion, which were rooted in religion, even if she expressed them in a vivid way.

While this may be a boon for free speech rights overall, a far more pro-life stance might have been to advocate for pro-life marches too, or to petition her employer to release her from union due obligations, since she vehemently disagreed with them. To be fair, perhaps Carter did those things too.

Regardless, this is a win for freedom.

Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She is an opinion columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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Southwest Airlines and union defeated in win for free speech - Washington Examiner