Drawing a line between whether the posts constitute religious conduct or religious belief may be going too far, Gilliam said, since in Carter’s case, the two are closely related.
“There was a lot of testimony in the record where she talks about how she formed these religious beliefs. She talks about how she herself had an abortion and that God forgave her and she practices her religion by going out and spreading the word that abortion is the taking of human life,” Gilliam said. “I think that there could be a little bit too much hairsplitting because there is a lot of interlay.”
Carter sent the messages at issue to her union president in 2017 to express her opposition to the use of union funds to help members attend that year’s Planned Parenthood-sponsored Women’s March in Washington, D.C. She called the president “despicable,” said abortion was murder and sent a video that allegedly showed aborted fetuses, according to court documents.
Carter sued Southwest and the union, Transport Workers Union of America Local 556, later that year, claiming the union retaliated against her under the Railway Labor Act and discriminated against her based on religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
