(LifeSiteNews) — A federal judge has ruled that a Catholic flight attendant fired by United Airlines may proceed with a lawsuit against his labor union, after alleging it failed to defend him for expressing Church teachings on marriage and sexuality.
Ruben Sanchez, a 28-year United employee based in Alaska, says he was terminated following a quiet theological conversation with a co-worker during a red-eye flight in May 2023. Though the conversation was allegedly overheard and later mischaracterized online, Sanchez says the airline’s investigation turned up no social media violations – but fired him anyway.
Sanchez alleges discrimination on religious and age grounds and says the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA declined to represent him in arbitration unless he paid upfront legal costs. The union argued in court that its decision was not discriminatory but based on similar past cases with low success rates.
Judge Christina Snyder disagreed. In a June 30 ruling, she found Sanchez presented enough evidence that the union may have acted arbitrarily and with bias, allowing the case to move forward. Snyder also ruled that Sanchez had made a plausible initial showing of discrimination based on his age and religious views.
Sanchez is a Catholic and a member of the Alaska Air National Guard. According to court documents, he and his colleague – also Catholic – discussed Church teaching during a break in the flight.
The complaint states the conversation was quiet, out of passenger earshot, and arose in part due to United’s imminent “Pride Month” events.
Sanchez himself identifies as a homosexual but “holds to the teachings of the Catholic Church” on matters of marriage and sexuality.
Days later, a Twitter user – allegedly not on the flight – reported Sanchez for “anti-trans” and racist views. United launched a review of his 140,000-post social media history, citing 35 posts as lacking “dignity” or “professionalism,” but Sanchez maintains he had never before been warned about his online activity.
He also alleges a double standard, pointing to other flight attendants who posted offensive or sexually provocative content but were not fired – or faced lighter consequences.
His lawsuit claims the firing was a message to other employees that expressing traditional views on gender, race, or politics would not be tolerated.
Sanchez’s legal team says the case is now receiving support from X Corp., the owner of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. United has until August 1 to respond to the claims in court.
