Southwest Airlines Pays Charlene Carter $946,102.87 After Appeal
Southwest Airlines paid Charlene Carter $946,102.87 after a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling ended the damages phase of her federal case. The payout followed a jury win, a larger $5 million verdict, and a district court order that had already required reinstatement. The case is still not fully closed because a contempt issue against Southwest remains before the court.
Carter’s $946,102.87 payout
Charlene Carter, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, received $946,102.87 in damages after filing her case in 2017 in the Northern District Court of Texas. Her lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and the Transport Workers Union accused them of firing her in violation of the federal Railway Labor Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
$5 million was the jury’s verdict five years later, after Carter prevailed at trial. The district court then ordered Southwest and the union to pay the maximum compensatory and punitive damages permitted under federal law, and it ordered Carter reinstated as a flight attendant at Southwest.
Fifth Circuit ruling on religion
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding that both Southwest and the union had discriminated against Carter based on her religious practice. That appellate ruling is what allowed the damages payment to move forward, turning a disputed trial win into money on the record.
Carter also criticized the TWU Local 556 president for using union dues to send flight attendants to the 2017 Women's March. The conflict over that criticism became part of a case that stretched across nearly a decade, with Carter saying the fight centered on her beliefs and speech.
Southwest contempt issue remains
The district court is still considering whether a contempt order against Southwest is necessary after Southwest attorneys issued notices to flight attendants incorrectly informing them of the district court’s holding that the company had discriminated against Carter on the basis of religion.
“Being a flight attendant is my livelihood and my passion, and union officials tried to manipulate company policy to upend my career simply because I spoke out about my most sincerely held beliefs,” Carter said after the payout. “This case has been a long, hard fight, but I'll never stop sticking up for what I know is right, and I hope that both my employer and TWU union bosses have learned that it doesn't pay to stifle flight attendants' freedom of religion and speech.”
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said, “Ms. Carter was courageous in standing up to protect her religious and personal beliefs from the schemes of radical union officials and a compliant employer.”
