Toward a Fairer Workplace

Because Jesus lives in us, we can reflect His presence and speak His truth with boldness. The example of Peter and John in Acts 4 can provide great encouragement for us:
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Each day, we can be reminded of the presence of the Lord in and through us - He gives us direction and wisdom and even prepares the way we are to walk; the Bible tells us that the steps of a good person are ordered by the Lord.  So, when we feel we lack boldness to speak the truth of God or courage to walk according to His ways, we can draw on the living water of the reservoir of the Holy Spirit in us and allow Him to flow through our words and our actions. 

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We are children of God, born of and empowered by His Spirit, and called to live out our faith in whatever circumstances to which we are called. 1st Peter 2 says:
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Charlene Carter was a long-term flight attendant for a major airline - she had joined the Transport Workers Union and, even though she left the union, she was still forced to pay dues as part of her employment. That's according to CBN, which reported that:

In January 2017, Carter learned that TWU Local 556 president Audrey Stone, and other officials, had used union money to attend the Women's March on Washington, D.C., which endorses abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.

The flight attendant denounced the union's attendance at the event on social media and sent messages to Stone about a recall effort against her.

Southwest managers met with Stone regarding her social media posts and questioned why she posted them.

Southwest authorities claimed that Stone considered the social media comments to be a form of harassment toward her, and the airline company subsequently terminated Carter's employment.

Charlene filed a lawsuit, and she was awarded 5.3 million dollars by a jury, which was reduced to the limit under federal discrimination law of just over $800,000.  She was also ordered to be reinstated.  

However, in January of this year, she filed another suit against the airline; CBN reported:

Charlene Carter's latest motion calls on the District Court to impose sanctions against Southwest for releasing a misleading "Recent Court Decision" notice to its roughly 17,000 flight attendants, arguing that the notice minimizes the airline's significant rights violations found by the Court.

The CBN article also says:

The notice states that Southwest "does not discriminate" against its employees based on religious belief, despite the Court's finding that Southwest did discriminate against Carter on religious grounds. The motion also says Southwest's notice fails to make a court-ordered announcement that the airline is forbidden from discriminating in the future.

According to a commentary at Breakpoint.org, the judge took significant action against the airline.  The commentary, written by John Stonestreet and Timothy Padgett, said:

...a U.S. District Court ruled that Southwest Airlines violated Charlene Carter’s rights when they fired her for posting pro-life opinions on her personal social media. The ruling also declared that Southwest notify their flight attendants about protections for their religious views. Southwest did not follow through, and instead notified their flight attendants that the company policy did not violate their religious freedom. To say the least, the judge wasn’t happy, ruling that more training was in order and that ADF was the group to provide it.

That's right, the Alliance Defending Freedom has been appointed to provide this training, about which Forbes reported, stating:

Three senior attorneys for Southwest Airlines have been ordered to take an eight-hour religious liberty training offered by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom after a judge said they failed to follow his orders following a flight attendant’s free speech case.

Of course, the airline is appealing the directive by federal district judge Brantley Starr. Breakpoint notes:

Not surprisingly, Southwest appealed the decision while media outlets feigned disbelief and expressed outrage. Hopefully the inconsistency will be obvious to everyone.

The commentary linked to a Reuters story on NBCNews.com, which said:

Judges often require employers to take steps to remedy discriminatory conduct, such as training workers and adopting new policies, but it is unusual for them to order company officials to undergo training conducted by specific groups. Starr cited older rulings requiring lawyers to attend continuing education or ethics training.

The ruling may be unprecedented, and the choice of ADF to conduct the training is troubling given its history of advocating a conservative Christian viewpoint, according to David Lopez, who was general counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) during the Obama administration.

Religious freedom, as I talk about frequently on this program, is a cornerstone foundational principle of the founding of our nation.  Yet, you have people in power that frown upon the actual expression of principles that are consistent with a person's personal faith. As we saw in the 303 Creative case, a business owner should not have to communicate a message that is inconsistent with or violates his or her deeply held beliefs.  And, certainly an employee of an organization should not be forced to endorse a position that he or she disagrees with in order to maintain employment.  Now, discretion can be helpful, because one does want to have a cohesive working environment - so one should not gain a reputation for being confrontational or undermining morale, so reliance on the direction of the Holy Spirit is key. 

This is what Charlene Carter encountered, and her employer seems to be content with setting the table for a similar occurrence to take place.  That's why a refresher course, or additional training is needed; so good for the judge who has ordered it. And, while there are those that disagree with ADF from a legal or religious perspective, it's hard to argue against the reputation of that organization, which has been enormously successful in defending Christians whose religious rights have been challenged. And, we hear about sensitivity training that reinforces progressive, even unbiblical ideas - I say, why not make sure that people in authority possess respect for religious viewpoints, even if they don't agree with them?