Alaska Airlines Fires Christian Flight Attendants for Questioning Company Support of Radical ‘Equality Act’

Two Alaska Airlines flight attendants are alleging religious discrimination after they were fired for questioning the company’s support of the “deceptively-called Equality Act,” according to First Liberty Institute.

First Liberty Institute, which is a legal organization exclusively dedicated to defending religious liberty, filed charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of the women on August 18. The charges stem from an incident on February 25, in which the airline had posted an article to its open company forum entitled “Alaska supports the Equality Act.” In the article, the company said it had joined a growing coalition of over 300 businesses across the U.S.  to voice support for the act. Leadership viewed aligning with the policy as a way to “stand against hate and intolerance of any kind.”

Both flight attendants, who are professing Christians, commented on the article and questioned the airline’s stance on the legislation. Coming from a place of faith, both said later that had they wished to open up a respectful discussion about the proposed bill and whether it was the best way to approach discrimination.

The bill, which passed the House in February and awaits debate in the Senate, has been accused of being extremely radical and even unconstitutional.

Our newest client, Lacey Smith, isn't backing down from #AlaskaAirlines. Because, after all, #DiscriminationDoesntFly in America. https://t.co/5u9zLOJeWG

— First Liberty Institute (@1stLiberty) September 11, 2021

Democrats often claim the bill will merely amend federal civil rights law to ensure sexual orientation and gender identity are protected classes — even though the Constitution already provides protection for the rights of all American citizens, regardless of their “identity group.”

However, the Equality Act exempts itself from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meaning religious schools, hospitals, and adoption agencies could face federal sanctions for upholding their teachings with regard to life, sexuality, and marriage under the legislation. (Here’s a list of seven radical demands in the Equality Act).

Christians Canceled

“As a company, do you think it’s possible to regulate morality?” flight attendant Lacey Smith queried on the forum at 8:35 a.m.. Her comment garnered at least 17 likes within a few hours from other employees, according to charge documents.

Smith’s question, which she later described as a “philosophical” one, was not welcome by management.

In response, Alaska Airlines SVP People Andy Schneider said [emphasis added]:

Supporting the Equality Act is not about regulating morality. It’s about supporting laws that allow our LGBTQ+ employees and guests, no matter what state they live in or fly to, to be protected against discrimination. Our values are our guide, and we strongly believe that doing the right thing and being kind-hearted require us to support this act. As we said above, we aren’t the kind of company that stands by and watches — we’re going to use our voice and be a leader on these issues.

We also expect our employees to live by these same values. Our differences are to be respected. As stated in our people policies, harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated.

Later that day, the company removed both Smith’s comment and Schneider’s reply from the forum, however comments from other people about morals and the Equality Act were reportedly left untouched.

Her supervisor arranged to meet with her on March 11 — until then, Smith was “removed from her line,” documents show. On March 19, she received a notice of discharge explaining that she violated the company’s harassment and discrimination policies.

The discharge reads in part [emphasis added]:

Defining gender identity or sexual orientation as a moral issue, or questioning the Company’s support for the rights of all people regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation is not a philosophical question but a discriminatory statement….Your posting was offensive, discriminatory, and did not align with Alaska Airlines’ values…

In her charge of religious discrimination, Smith said she felt the company wanted her to forego her own values for the “company’s own definition of morality and values.”

She rebutted:

To say that “[d]efining gender identity or sexual orientation as a moral issue…is…a discriminatory statement,” is itself a discriminatory statement. Many people view issues of sexuality as moral questions. In fact, Alaska Airlines’ own support for the Equality Act is rooted in the company’s moral values.

Another flight attendant, whose name is redacted from EOCC documents, was fired the same day as Smith — and for the exact same reasons.

The fellow flight attendant questioned the safety of the Equality Act and asked detailed questions about potential dangerous outcomes of the policy. In her charge document, she expressed that she felt she was allowed to ask these questions because management reportedly condoned respectful disagreement.

She wrote:

Does Alaska support: endangering the Church, encouraging suppression of religious freedom, obliterating women rights and parental rights? This act will force every American to agree with controversial government-imposed ideology or be treated as an outlaw. The Equality Act demolishes existing civil rights and constitutional freedoms which threaten constitutional freedoms by eliminating conscience protections from the Civil Rights Act. The Equality act [Act] would affect everything from girls’ and women’s showers and locker rooms to women’s shelters and women’s prisons, endangering safety and diminishing privacy. Giving people blanket permission to enter private spaces for the opposite sex enables sexual predators to exploit the rules and gain easy access to victims. This is the Equality Act.

When her flight landed, her supervisor and a union representative were waiting — they took her badge and informed her she would not return to work for two weeks until an investigation into her comment was complete. Later, management reportedly told her she was “equating LGBTQ individuals to sexual predators.”

“The company called my concern for women and people of faith “hateful,” “offensive,” and “discriminatory,” arguing that it contributed to a hostile work environment,” the document reads.

First Liberty Institute also alleges the employees’ union, the Association of Flight Attendants, did not assert their rights as a member of a protect class under Title VII and failed to give them a religious accommodation to express their opinions as a protected class — ultimately facilitating unjust terminations. Smith had been with the company since 2014, and the other woman had worked there since 2013.

The Road Ahead

As far as what Smith is hoping to get out of her case — Chief Legal Officer with First Liberty Institute Jeff Mateer told Breitbart News on Monday that she ideally would like to be reinstated and to receive the pay she has missed.

“She loved being a flight attendant. It’s what she wanted to do — she likes serving people,” Mateer said. “If given the opportunity, she’d like to resume.”

But more than getting back in the sky, Mateer said Smith’s faith is what is guiding her to stand up against the ever-increasing woke tyranny of Corporate America.

“She’s wants people to know that — and in her case especially other Christian believers to know that you don’t have to be silent, and that you can stand up and should stand up,” he said, noting the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act were specially designed to help people like Smith.

He said often the message people of faith get in Corporate America is “you better just be quiet and don’t stand up” — a problem which seems to be increasing as leftists gain a firmer grasp on America’s largest institutions.

“It seems like in Corporate America it certainly is going more and more woke. And as it goes more and more woke, the one group of employees it doesn’t believe have any right are those people of faith,” he said.

First Liberty Institute has been hard at work spreading Smith’s case far and wide. The firm even created a video, which YouTube promptly censored over the weekend following a supposed “copyright violation.”

On Tuesday, First Liberty Institute accused Alaska Airlines of improperly initiating a takedown of the YouTube video to hide the scandal. The airline reportedly claimed that the inclusion of the airline’s logo in video footage shot by First Liberty violates Alaska Airlines’ copyright.

“Why does Alaska Airlines want to keep Americans from seeing this video?” Mateer asked. “Alaska Airlines’ attempts to cover up its blatant discrimination against our clients only furthers our resolve to fight against religious discrimination wherever it exists. We have asked YouTube to correct this wrong.”

Soon after First Liberty Institute called on YouTube to redress the situation, the platform agreed to reinstate the video. Mateer said the video was created for nonprofit educational purposes, which in legal terms is called “fair use.”  The video can be also seen on Rumble.

For next steps, Mateer said the EOCC investigating both flight attendants’ cases to determine if they can be litigated via the Civil Rights Act. Most likely, the EOCC will ask Alaska Airlines for its response to charges of religious discrimination. Then, the EOCC will either decide to proceed themselves and First Liberty Institute would join them, or the EOCC would grant First Liberty the right to sue.

Breitbart News asked Alaska Airlines if the company values religious liberty and if it wished to comment on accusations of religious discrimination. The airline did not respond to request for comment by time of publication.