Airline lawyers spared religious liberty training in case about flight attendant’s abortion views

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judge’s order that three attorneys for Southwest Airlines get religious liberty training has been put on hold by a federal appeals court. A panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday that the district judge in the case likely exceeded his authority by ordering the training. The panel put the order on hold while appeals are pursued. The order is an outgrowth of a case in which a Southwest flight attendant sued the airline and her union after she was fired for sending graphic anti-abortion material and disparaging messages to a union leader. The airline and union are appealing a court-ordered $800,000 award to the woman.