Overview
- Court records show a Satisfaction of Judgment confirming Charlene Carter received $946,102.87, closing the payout phase of her case.
- The jury awarded about $5 million in 2022, but statutory caps and the court’s final judgment reduced the collectible amount to under $1 million.
- The Fifth Circuit upheld findings that Southwest and TWU Local 556 discriminated against Carter based on her religious expression and that the union helped cause her firing.
- Carter has been reinstated as a Southwest flight attendant under the district court’s order, restoring her job after nearly nine years of litigation.
- Because airline workers fall under the Railway Labor Act, Carter still pays a reduced union fee that excludes political spending even though Texas is a right‑to‑work state.