This week, a federal judge appointed by former president Donald Trump, Brantley Starr, ordered three attorneys who work for Southwest Airlines to undergo "religious liberty training" conducted by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a far-right extremist group that opposes abortion rights. Starr ordered that the "training shall be conducted by ADF at a time set by ADF, it shall last a minimum of 8 hours of instructional time, and it must be completed by August 28, 2023." The company "must transport ADF’s representative to Dallas and be responsible for any food, accommodation, or other travel expenses for ADF’s representative."
If I were one of the attorneys or the CEO of Southwest, I might sue that MY religious beliefs were being violated by religious indoctrination ordered by the government.
Surely this cannot be legal because ADF is not a neutral educational establishment that can be trusted to provide balanced "training" on this topic? How can the judge know what the "training" will consist of and what will be the impact - psychological or otherwise on those subjected to it. I hope SW Airlines appeal. Please keep us posted on this one Judd because it sets an alarming legal precedent as highlighted by others here.
If I were one of the attorneys ordered to endure the bullshit from this hate group I would record every single minute of the "training" and put it all online. Let the public see for itself what lies these people spew. On the other hand I might also object to every lie and argue with the trainer at every turn. As for the order to transport, house and feed these assholes. Last row, middle seats. Motel in the sketchiest part of Dallas we can find. Food from Taco Bell and McDonalds.
I sincerely hope that this sentence is appealed. All who care about the actual first amendment must fight for not only separation of church and state but freedom from religion as well
Hate groups now get additional license to push their hate, with a judge abusing his power to help them. Starr must have gone to hate school with Aileen Cannon..
So, to sum up, one Southwest employee engages in a campaign of harassment against another Southwest employee who, after the barrage of offensive messages, finally reports them to management, which then fires the employee sending the message. That former employee then sues the airline and somehow convinces a jury that she was right (only in Texas could that happen) and wins her lawsuit, with the end result being that after the airline follows the Court's instructions and issues a statement, the Court then find the statement "inadequate" and orders it to undergo "religious liberty training" from the far-right ADF?!
I honestly believe that people like Carter and “Judge” Starr are going to drive me out of my mind. I just can’t handle their craziness any longer. The SWA staff trying to deal with an out of control employee or the attorneys defending SWA must think they no longer live in a rational world. I can’t imagine how angry I would be if I had to sit through that “training”. Florida is bad but they are suddenly walking back some of the more deranged book banning and Disney persecution but Texas! Wow!
This is one more reason to support Southern Poverty Law Center.
Is there an appeal available to Southwest?
This is atrocious far right “ Christian” intervention in our lives. There is nothing about this group or this judge that could be interpreted as ‘ Christian’ .
These people and this judge think to force their shallow little will on everyone.
This woman Carter is a lunatic .
And she did harass her co worker.
These same people are anti abortion and pro gun . So essentially they want these babies born so they can be gunned down later in their lives.
Perhaps in a town in Texas.
These jurors should never have been allowed to serve they were clearly rabid antiabortionists.
Evidently, it's cool for somebody to harass another person for years if they are anti-abortion. Also, it's sadly unsurprising that this was possible on Messenger. Enforceable terms of service? Who needs those? 🙃
If I were one of the attorneys or the CEO of Southwest, I might sue that MY religious beliefs were being violated by religious indoctrination ordered by the government.
Surely this cannot be legal because ADF is not a neutral educational establishment that can be trusted to provide balanced "training" on this topic? How can the judge know what the "training" will consist of and what will be the impact - psychological or otherwise on those subjected to it. I hope SW Airlines appeal. Please keep us posted on this one Judd because it sets an alarming legal precedent as highlighted by others here.
If I were one of the attorneys ordered to endure the bullshit from this hate group I would record every single minute of the "training" and put it all online. Let the public see for itself what lies these people spew. On the other hand I might also object to every lie and argue with the trainer at every turn. As for the order to transport, house and feed these assholes. Last row, middle seats. Motel in the sketchiest part of Dallas we can find. Food from Taco Bell and McDonalds.
I sincerely hope that this sentence is appealed. All who care about the actual first amendment must fight for not only separation of church and state but freedom from religion as well
Hate groups now get additional license to push their hate, with a judge abusing his power to help them. Starr must have gone to hate school with Aileen Cannon..
This is so very wrong. People need to understand these conservative libertarians have moved toward autocracy. There is a long line of this tendency.
So, to sum up, one Southwest employee engages in a campaign of harassment against another Southwest employee who, after the barrage of offensive messages, finally reports them to management, which then fires the employee sending the message. That former employee then sues the airline and somehow convinces a jury that she was right (only in Texas could that happen) and wins her lawsuit, with the end result being that after the airline follows the Court's instructions and issues a statement, the Court then find the statement "inadequate" and orders it to undergo "religious liberty training" from the far-right ADF?!
Only in Red State America could this ever occur.
I honestly believe that people like Carter and “Judge” Starr are going to drive me out of my mind. I just can’t handle their craziness any longer. The SWA staff trying to deal with an out of control employee or the attorneys defending SWA must think they no longer live in a rational world. I can’t imagine how angry I would be if I had to sit through that “training”. Florida is bad but they are suddenly walking back some of the more deranged book banning and Disney persecution but Texas! Wow!
This judgment is despicable! I am hoping it will be appealed to a higher court?
Waiting for GOD v. ADAM to be cited by SCOTUS. That is some seriously novel legal theory
This is one more reason to support Southern Poverty Law Center.
Is there an appeal available to Southwest?
This is atrocious far right “ Christian” intervention in our lives. There is nothing about this group or this judge that could be interpreted as ‘ Christian’ .
These people and this judge think to force their shallow little will on everyone.
This woman Carter is a lunatic .
And she did harass her co worker.
These same people are anti abortion and pro gun . So essentially they want these babies born so they can be gunned down later in their lives.
Perhaps in a town in Texas.
These jurors should never have been allowed to serve they were clearly rabid antiabortionists.
Was certainly a jury of her peers.
Her enablers.
Southwest is APPEALING this, right? Even THIS SCOTUS can't countenance this, right?
Evidently, it's cool for somebody to harass another person for years if they are anti-abortion. Also, it's sadly unsurprising that this was possible on Messenger. Enforceable terms of service? Who needs those? 🙃
PS ADF is a good example of where Religion went wrong. And moored itself into a totally narrow path of destruction. For anyone who doesn’t accept this
mess , they’re just wrong .
The judge is incapable of impartiality.
He is a zealot.
I. Hate. Religion.
I assume the pilots will file their own suit against this.