A North Texas federal judge ordered Dallas-based Southwest Airlines to reinstate a flight attendant who claimed she was unfairly fired for airing her views against abortion, but cut her $5.3 million jury award to just over $800,000 to abide by federal limits.
In an order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr said Southwest must reinstate former flight attendant Charlene Carter, who claimed the airline and Transport Workers Union Local 556 violated her rights by firing her after she sent confrontational anti-abortion messages to the union’s former president.
Starr, who is based in Dallas and was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, also reduced the jury’s original $5.3 million in damages to $810,180, including $150,000 in back pay. That’s because federal discrimination law limits damages that companies can pay in such cases.
