Southwest Union Helped Get A Flight Attendant Fired—That’s Cost Its Members Millions

Southwest’s flight attendant union helped get Charlene Carter fired. Now its bill for her judgment and legal fees tops $1.5 million — roughly $71 per member, before counting the union’s own lawyers which likely doubles this amount. This is the same union whose flight attendants voted down higher monthly assessments three times, only to see another proposal come back with voting limited to in-person meetings – many believe to keep members opposing the dues increase from casting their ballot. One reason they need the dues increase is to cover millions in costs from their actions against one of their own. I’ve reviewed a September 29 federal court filing in which Southwest Airlines and Transport Workers Union Local 556 agree to pay $2,132,853.44 in Carter’s attorney fees and costs split equally as $1,066,426.72 apiece. The money goes to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which provided Carter’s representation. It’s on top of the $946,102.87 Carter already received from Southwest and the union combined. All three parties signed the joint request to put their agreement into a Second Amended Final Judgment. The Union Helped Get Her Fired Carter began flying for Southwest in 1996. She’d resigned her union membership in 2013, but still had to pay fees for its representation. She opposed union leadership, supported a recall, and objected to its political activities, including participation in the 2017 Women’s March, which had Planned Parenthood as a sponsor. Her opposition to abortion was religious. She sent then-union president Audrey Stone private Facebook messages containing graphic abortion images and videos, and publicly criticized the union. The union reported her to Southwest and she was fired. You don’t have to like Carter’s messages to understand the problem with the organization responsible for representing her helping get her fired. A jury found for Carter in 2022. The original verdict was about $5.1 million, but the amount she could collect was reduced under federal damages limits. She got her job back, and ultimately received $946,102.87 including back pay and interest. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment against the union on every claim, including religious discrimination and breach of its duty of fair representation. Effectively, the union weaponized Carter’s religious and anti-union criticism by reporting it through official channels to Southwest. It couldn’t escape responsibility simply because the airline made the final firing decision. Federal law prohibits a union from causing or attempting to cause an employer to discriminate. What The Case Costs Flight Attendants Southwest paid $473,051.44 of the earlier judgment, and Carter’s counsel confirmed that she received the full balance from the union. That puts Local 556’s share at $473,051.43. Already paid toward Carter’s judgment: $473,051.43. Now agreed toward her lawyers’ fees and costs: $1,066,426.72. Combined: $1,539,478.15, before the union’s own defense expenses. Labor Department filings list 21,598 union members for 2025. Spread across that membership, the earlier payment works out to $21.90 each and the new fee agreement adds $49.38. That’s $71.28 per member. The union had its own lawyers throughout a case filed in 2017, tried over eight days in 2022, appealed, and litigated further after the appeal. Back-of-the-envelope estimate, suppose the union’s legal team billed 3,000 to 5,000 hours over those nine years, at an average of $300 to $400 an hour. That seems like a low end, but produces $900,000 to $2 million in fees (without expenses). The $2.13 million agreement covering Carter’s side demonstrates the scale of this litigation as well. So legal fees likely roughly double the cost per member of this case (and probably more). They Kept Asking For More Dues Flight attendants rejected proposed monthly assessments of $11, $8 and $7. Then came the fourth attempt, for $5 a month. That proposal required members to attend one of 13 meetings in person to vote. No mail ballots. No online voting. Most flight attendants can’t just turn up at a weekday meeting, while officers attending on union business can have their time and travel covered. At 21,598 members, a $5 monthly assessment would produce $107,990 a month. The union’s $1.54 million in Carter payments and agreed fees alone equals more than 14 months of that assessment. The assessment was framed as necessary for bargaining rather than reimbursing these litigation expenses. . Last week the Dallas Morning News reported on flight attendants seeking to replace Local 556 with an independent Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Association, with crewmembers criticizing TWU’s spending and transparency while a union official responded “asking to form a new union is not a question that we’re OK with.” Meanwhile, TWU International has assigned an overseer with authority to examine Local 556’s finances and bring in a financial monitor. This judgment, both sides’ legal bills charged to the local, bond premiums, and any insurance or reimbursement would be a good place to start. Topics on this page