By Jalen Jenkins –
Fired after voicing concerns about the Alaska Airlines’ support of the LGBTQ-promoting Equality Act, two flight attendants are now suing the airline for religious discrimination.
“Alaska Airlines has made it clear that employees who hold traditional Christian beliefs must stay silent if they want to keep their jobs,” said Stephanie Taub, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, which represents the pair. “Now, we clearly see that Alaska Airlines’ obsessive focus on DEI created a hostile work environment for anyone who dares disagree with the company about moral issues.”
Back in 2021, Marli Brown and Lacey Smith voiced concerns about the then-pending legislation, fearing it would “endanger the Church, encourage suppression of religious freedom, obliterate women rights and parental rights,” according to court documents quoted by Fox News.
The Equality Act aims to eliminate discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, employment, housing, credit and more.
But the flight attendants were concerned it overstepped legitimate rights by treating Christians as “outlaws” and facilitating sexual predators going into women’s restrooms and changing rooms, the court documents say.
Marli Brown and Lacey Smith got fired from Alaska Airlines. Minor mishaps of employee obligations were escalated; the airline terminated the two in violation of its own “Three Strikes policy” after allegedly only one “offense,” the documents state.
Even the Association of Flight Attendants union, which is supposed to defend its members against company proceedings, turned hostile against Brown and Smith. Instead of defending the pair, AFA leaders wanted them fired from the airline, court documents say.
“Can we PLEASE get someone to shut down comments, or put Marli and Lacey in a burlap bag and drop them in a well?” one AFA rep allegedly wrote on a company chat, according to Christian Post. The AFA is being sued also.
Brown and Smith were called “bigots” and “pukes,” the suit alleges.
While Brown and Smith were vindictively terminated, employees who expressed hatred toward Christians – and even threatened violence (against Christians) – in company communication contrastingly received only minor sanctions, the suit says.
The Airline-union collusion to oust the two attendants created a “hostile work environment” against people of faith, according to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021.
“’Woke’ corporations like Alaska Airlines think that they do not have to follow the law and can fire employees if they simply don’t like their religious beliefs,” lawyer Stephanie Taub said in defense of her clients.
In 2021, Alaska Airlines announced its support of the Equality Act via internal communication open to employees’ comments. While many supported the company’s decision, Brown and Smith felt compelled by their religious convictions to object.
Their comments were removed from the message board, thus “canceling” the employees, the suit alleges.
The airline and the union didn’t stop there but also proceeded to find means to fire them in a retaliatory manner, the suit says.
Neither Alaska Airlines nor the union responded to calls from Fox News or CBN.
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About the writer of this article: Jalen Jenkins studies at Lighthouse Christian Academy of Los Angeles.
