Southwest Religious Training Clash Tests Judge’s Sanctions Power

A fight over court-ordered training for three Southwest Airlines Co. attorneys by a Christian legal group is set to go before the Fifth Circuit Monday, giving the appeals court a chance to weigh in on whether attorneys can be required to submit to such instruction.

The airline is challenging Texas federal judge Brantley Starr‘s order requiring three of its in-house lawyers to undergo “religious liberty” training by the nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom. The group has been involved in several high-profile US Supreme Court cases involving LGBTQ+ rights and abortion services in recent years.

Starr, a Trump appointee who took ...