Southwest Pilot’s Suit Over Covid Buyout to Get Weighed in Texas

A Southwest Airlines Co. pilot based in Colorado must go through a Texas federal court to allege he was wrongly denied a buyout under a voluntary separation program rolled out during the Covid-19 pandemic, a federal judge in Denver ruled.

Southwest’s voluntary separation program includes a forum selection clause mandating that any disputes be litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Forum selection clauses are generally enforceable under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Judge William J. Martinez said. And pilot Lafe Dunn failed to identify any public interest factors that would weigh against enforcing ...