Southwest Lawyer Training Nixed, Religious Bias Loss Upheld (1)

Southwest Airlines Co. won reversal of some, but not all, of a Texas federal court jury’s verdict that the airline engaged in religious discrimination when it fired a Christian flight attendant after she sent graphic anti-abortion messages to her union president.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit also reversed the trial judge’s order directing a trio of airline lawyers to attend religious-liberty training before the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, saying the sanction wasn’t geared toward promoting court order compliance.

The appeals court had put the edict on hold last year.

The unanimous three-judge panel affirmed ...