Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 24, 2023 / 09:05 am
A federal judge put a 30-day pause on his order that Southwest Airlines lawyers receive religious freedom training from the Christian and conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.
U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr delayed the enforcement of his order last Thursday, which would have required three Southwest Airlines lawyers to take an eight-hour training course from ADF within the month. According to Reuters, the judge issued the temporary pause while considering a longer delay as Southwest Airlines appeals his order that they receive the religious freedom training to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines provided CNA with the following statement: “While we aren’t offering comment on this decision, we’ve previously stated that Southwest has appealed the recent court order and the underlying judgment to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Starr issued the order after a jury found the company violated the religious liberty of one of its employees, a flight attendant named Charlene Carter. She was fired from Southwest Airlines after criticizing the union’s support for a Planned Parenthood event based on her religious objections to abortion.