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Was it legal to fire Christian woman who posted graphic videos of aborted fetuses?

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Supervisor’s take-home: If your reason for terminating a crew member can be linked in any way to his or her religious beliefs, proceed cautiously with the dismissal – workers suing for religious bias now have to meet a very low bar to prevail in court.

What happened: A pro-life Christian woman posted several messages and videos on her Facebook page expressing her opposition to abortion. One video featured an image of an aborted fetus in a metal bowl with the message, “If it’s your body, your choice, who is this lying in the f-ck-ng bowl?” Another video showed a fetus in the palm of someone’s hand and said abortion is murder.

What people did: When the woman’s employer found out about the anti-abortion posts, an investigation was launched. The investigator told the woman that her Facebook page identified her as a company employee. The crew member affirmed that abortion was a big issue for her. At the end of the investigation, the Christian staffer was let go for violating the employer’s social media policy.

Legal challenge: The woman sued for religious discrimination, saying she was terminated because of her sincerely held religious beliefs.

Result: The company lost. A jury ruled in favor of the Christian woman, and an appeals court upheld the jury’s verdict. The judge said the jury could’ve reasonably believed that the worker was fired because of her religion and that the organization failed to work with her to find a way to accommodate her sincerely held beliefs.

The skinny: A recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has made it much more difficult for employers to beat back claims of religious discrimination. Now crew members who sue for religious bias only have to show that religious animus played any role in an adverse employment action.

Cite: Carter v. Southwest Airlines, U.S. Court of Appeals 5, No. 23-10008, 5/8/25.

(From the May 23, 2025, issue of HR Managers Legal Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)