Fired Pro-Life Flight Attendant Calls Reinstatement the “Best Christmas Present”

After five years of court battles, Charlene Carter is thrilled that Southwest Airlines has taken steps to return her to work under a federal judge’s order—despite the airline’s earlier statement that it was planning to continue the fight.

“Oh, it’s the best Christmas present in the world to receive, that you get to go back to the career that you love!” Carter told The Epoch Times in a Dec. 16 interview, shortly after Southwest told Carter that she was scheduled to report for a required four-week training session in Dallas at the end of January.

The company didn’t immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment. So it remains unclear whether Southwest still might attempt an appeal of Judge Brantley Starr’s order to reinstate Carter in a case that hinged on federal laws protecting employees’ religious and union rights.

Starr’s ruling, issued on Dec. 5, also requires Southwest and Transport Workers Union of America Local 556 to pay Carter a combined total of more than $835,000 in back pay, damages, and other compensation. In addition, in a new court filing, Starr is being asked to consider awarding nearly $3 million to the nonprofit legal foundation that supported Carter.

The case holds significance not only for Carter, the company, and the union, but also for thousands of Southwest employees and customers who have been following Carter’s saga.

“I would like to just be able to put all of this behind me,” Carter said, “and hopefully behind Southwest and then for the union as well … and then get on with the business of flying, and you know, and enjoying my career.”

‘Enjoyed Every Minute’

Carter, a flight attendant for 21 years until she was fired in 2017, says she has terribly missed her “co-Hearts”—Southwest’s term for coworkers at the airline with the LUV stock-ticker symbol because it was founded at Love Field, Texas.

Carter says she also is excited to provide service to passengers and revel in the joy of flight.

“It’s an amazing big world out there, and I enjoyed every minute of it,” Carter said.

A Southwest Airlines aircraft approaches to land at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., on Jan. 18, 2022. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

In court filings, the airline opposed Carter’s return to work, alleging that there was too much bad blood among Carter, her former coworkers, and the airline. But Carter denies any such issues.

The airline allows flight attendants to request to work together—and Carter said she has already seen quite a few of these “buddy bids” within a few days of coworkers’ noticing her name appearing in the signup system.

Carter said she intends to approach her job with the love that Southwest’s founder, Herb Kelleher, infused in the organization.

She admits feeling a little gun-shy after everything that has transpired. But Carter said, “You know, I also have my faith, and I just believe that, you know, God gifted me this,” so she’s approaching the job with a sense of gratitude.

Carter wrote in a public Facebook post: “12-20-22/New Beginning/SWA-FA,” referring to the date when the airline took additional steps toward her reinstatement as a flight attendant.

The post received more than 200 comments of encouragement and support within a few hours.

One person wrote: “Thank you for fighting not only for yourself, but on behalf of us that would get vilified for standing up for something that is right.”

Opposition to Abortion

Carter previously shared her story with The Epoch Times, stating that she regretted terminating a pregnancy when she was 19. That experience left Carter, 57, of Aurora, Colorado, with lasting emotional and physical damage.

As a result, she became a vocal opponent of abortion.

In 2014, Carter took issue with her union’s political activities, so she “opted out” of Local 556. But she was still required to pay fees.

In 2017, the union president complained to the company after Carter sent messages expressing pro-life views and objecting to the union’s alignment with pro-abortion causes.

That complaint resulted in her being fired. Until that happened, Carter’s employment record of nearly 21 years was unblemished.

A pro-life demonstrator stands in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on May 5, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Carter sued to get her job back.

After a trial this summer in Starr’s Dallas courtroom, a jury voted to award Carter more than $5 million. Jurors were unaware that the amount was higher than the law allows. Therefore, Starr had to figure out how much he could legally award Carter.

In his decision last month, Starr lambasted Southwest and Local 556 for violating Carter’s rights to religious speech and union opposition.

Starr’s order prohibits the union and the company from discriminating against Southwest flight attendants, “for their religious practices and beliefs,” and requires Southwest and the union to post the jury’s verdict and Starr’s ruling in conspicuous places.

The National Right To Work Foundation says it shouldered nearly $2.3 million in attorneys’ fees and expenses while representing Carter.

In a Dec. 19 court filing, the nonprofit foundation is seeking compensation from Southwest and the union for that amount, plus a “25 percent lodestar enhancement,” which is a fee-calculation method.

Repairing Corporate Culture

Public relations professional Jeff Pizzino in an undated photo provided Dec. 20, 2022. (Mike Gannon/AuthenticityPR)

Jeff Pizzino, a Tennessee-based public relations professional who studies corporate culture, told The Epoch Times that he has been a fan of Southwest Airlines for more than 20 years, noting many people considered the airline “the poster child for corporate culture for a long time.”

“They used to hire people that would color outside the lines,” he said. That literally was a test that Southwest would give prospective employees: When handed a picture to color, those who colored “outside the lines” would be hired, Pizzino said.

“And now they have someone that they’re not allowing to speak outside the so-called lines, it appears,” Pizzino said. That seems to contradict Southwest’s signature culture.

Pizzino, whose firm is called AuthenticityPR, said there’s an old adage in his line of work: “If you mess up, ‘fess up.”

He thinks Southwest needs to follow that advice.

“They need to take an immediate course correction and decide what their real values are going forward,” he said.

Janice Hisle writes about a variety of topics, with emphasis on criminal justice news and trends. Before joining The Epoch Times, she worked for more than two decades as a reporter for newspapers in Ohio and authored several books. A graduate of Kent State University’s journalism program, she embraces “old-school” journalism with a modern twist.

You can reach Janice by email by writing to [email protected]