flight attendant who sued the airline and workers union in 2017<\/a> for discrimination after she was fired for sharing anti-abortion images of fetuses received a nearly $500,000 payout from the airline \u2014 and could receive another $500,000 in additional damages.<\/p>\nThe award, issued April 10, comes after an appeals court ruled in October Charlene Carter was discriminated against by the Dallas-based airline and the local union when she was fired for sending \u201cgraphic images and videos of aborted fetuses\u201d to the union president, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing 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,\u201d Carter wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n
A Southwest spokesperson declined to comment to KERA.<\/p>\n
Carter, who had been employed with the airline for more than 20 years, became upset after members of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 556 attended the Women\u2019s March on Washington in 2017.<\/p>\n
She sent a video to then-union leader Audrey Stone on Facebook showing a fetus in a metal bowl and said the union was \u201csupporting this Murder,\u201d according to court records. Carter sent another message to Stone with a picture of a fetus in the palm of someone’s hand. She followed up with messages about her anti-abortion and religious beliefs.<\/p>\n
Stone reported the messages and Carter was fired. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis case has been a long, hard fight, but I\u2019ll 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\u2019t pay to stifle flight attendants\u2019 freedom of religion and speech,” she said.<\/p>\n
After Carter sued, a federal jury found the airline and union violated Carter\u2019s rights to religious belief and practice under the Civil Rights Act. In October 2025, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision while striking down a permanent injunction and contempt of court charge against the airline.<\/p>\n
Court documents show Southwest paid Carter nearly $473,051 \u2014 including $150,000 in backpay and the rest in damages \u2014 earlier this month. Carter is owed $946,102 in total, but it wasn\u2019t immediately clear how much the union is expected to pay.<\/p>\n
The Transport Workers Union did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Carter was represented for free by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union nonprofit, the group said in a press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Carter was courageous in standing up to protect her religious and personal beliefs from the schemes of radical union officials and a compliant employer,\u201d foundation President Mark Mix said.<\/p>\n
Dylan Duke is KERA’s Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.<\/i><\/p>\n
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n