Instead of following the court’s directive to inform its employees that it “may not” discriminate against them, Southwest instead told workers that it “does not” discriminate, Monday’s ruling said.
“It’s hard to see how Southwest could have violated the notice requirement more,” the court said in its ruling.
District Judge Brantley Starr, a Trump appointee, underscored the nature of Southwest’s violation by invoking the biblical account of the Garden of Eden: “After God told Adam, ‘[Y]ou must not eat from the tree [in the middle of the garden],’ imagine Adam telling God, ‘I do not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden’ — while an apple core rests at his feet.”
The ruling said that the airline company “needs to understand, when communicating with its employees, that federal protections for religious freedom override any company civility policy.”
The court stated that “training on religious freedom for three lawyers at Southwest the court finds responsible … is the least restrictive means of achieving compliance with the court’s order.”
Starr ordered the lawyers to attend an eight-hour religious freedom training course supplied by the Alliance Defending Freedom. The legal advocacy organization is known for its advocacy of religious freedom and conservative political efforts. It was founded in 1993 by several major figures in the U.S. Christian conservative movement, including James Dobson and Alan Sears.