Two Alaska Airlines flight attendants who say they were fired for expressing religious objections to President Biden’s LGBTQ policies are getting another chance in court.
A liberal federal judge in Seattle, Barbara Rothstein, had dismissed their lawsuit with prejudice, ruling that the attendants had not shown evidence of discrimination by the airline or the Association of Flight Attendants union. Rothstein, a longtime judge appointed by President Jimmy Carter, closed the case about 15 months ago.
But on Aug. 22, a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, made up of Judge Morgan Christen (of Anchorage), Judge Kenneth Lee, and Judge Daniel Bress, strongly questioned that ruling during oral arguments. The appellate judges suggested the case should go to a jury, warning Alaska Airlines and the union’s lawyers not to be overly confident in their interpretation of the evidence.
The case involves flight attendants Lacey Smith and Marli Brown, who, on an internal employee message board, criticized Alaska’s public support for federal LGBTQ protections. They were later fired.
During the hearing, the appellate judges pointed to statements by company officials that could be interpreted as showing hostility toward the attendants’ religious beliefs. They also raised concerns that Alaska Airlines and the union representing flight attendants may not have given the women a fair defense.
The original lawsuit by the attendants, represented by First Liberty, was filed in May, 2022.
“When Alaska Airlines proudly declared on the company’s internal message board its support of the passage of the deceptively-titled Equality Act, it invited employees to comment. First Liberty clients Lacey and Marli responded on the company’s online forum, asking genuine and respectful questions about their employer’s support for the legislation. Their faith compelled them to ask about the Airline’s support for federal legislation that would remove protections for women and religious employees in the workplace. The company disparaged their beliefs and promptly fired them over these questions,” First Liberty wrote.
“Last year, a federal district court handed down an alarming ruling that deprived our clients of their chance to prove their case before a jury. The court ignored overwhelming evidence of religious discrimination to rule in favor of Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants’ union,” the legal group that is defending the women noted.
If Rothstein’s ruling stands, “it would empower employers to punish employees simply for expressing their religious beliefs. It would give businesses leeway to discriminate against employees who hold religious beliefs about the nature of male and female or the need to protect women’s spaces, if done under the guise of protecting other employees from hearing ideas that they find offensive.”
More about this case at FirstLiberty.org.
