Politics

Flight attendant fired over expressing Catholic beliefs can proceed with lawsuit

null / Shai Barzilay via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

CNA Newsroom, Jul 11, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

A Catholic flight attendant who says United Airlines fired him after he endorsed Catholic teachings on marriage and gender identity while talking with a co-worker can proceed with his lawsuit against his union for not standing up for him, a federal judge has ruled. 

The flight attendant, Ruben Sanchez, of Anchorage, Alaska, claims the airline investigated his extensive social media posts only after receiving what he describes as “baseless accusations” arising from a red-eye flight conversation in May of 2023 — and that when the company came up with nothing that violated its social media policy, it terminated him anyway. 

Sanchez filed the lawsuit in January of 2025 against United Airlines and the union he belonged to while working for the airline, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

In court papers, he claims the airline violated his right to express his religious beliefs and discriminated against him because of his age, which was 52 at the time of the firing two years ago. He said had served as “a loyal United flight attendant” for almost 28 years. 

Sanchez’s complaint says that when he met with a United investigator online in June of 2023 to discuss the accusations against him, the investigator “reacted negatively when Sanchez explained the religious basis for his beliefs,” and that his union representative “did nothing to support him.” 

After United fired him, the union told Sanchez it would not represent him in arbitration unless he came up with the union’s portion of the cost and hired his own lawyer, according to court documents. 

In March of 2025, lawyers for the union filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that Sanchez’s complaint made “insufficient allegations of fact to plausibly suggest that the Union’s decision was covertly based on age or religious animus,” and that federal law governing fair representation by a union bars such a lawsuit. 

The union’s lawyers also argued that the union refused to represent Sanchez in arbitration because of “a lack of success in other cases in which flight attendants were fired related to their social media activities.” 

The judge disagreed with the union’s arguments for dismissal, saying that Sanchez presented sufficient evidence to pursue his claim that the union acted arbitrarily in not representing him in arbitration. 

Judge Christina Snyder, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, also wrote in her decision, dated June 30, that Sanchez established a “prima facie case” that the union discriminated against him because of his age and religion — meaning that on first impression, his claim is plausible based on the evidence he has presented so far. The case would likely proceed toward a jury trial unless the union appeals the judge’s ruling or the parties settle. 

Lawyers for United Airlines have not responded to Sanchez’s claims in court filings so far. The judge has extended the deadline for doing so until Aug. 1. A spokesman for United Airlines contacted by CNA declined comment. 

CNA contacted a lawyer who is representing the union in the court case and a spokesman for the union but did not hear back by publication deadline. 

His case, meanwhile, has apparently caught the eye of officials at the social media giant X. 

 “Sanchez’s lawsuit is being supported by X Corp.,” Sanchez’s lawyers said in a written statement published Thursday on the law firm’s web site, referring to the company that owns the social media platform called X, previously known as Twitter from 2006 until July of 2023. A spokesman for X could not be reached for comment Friday.  

What did he do? 

Sanchez, who is also a member of the Alaska Air National Guard, was a last-minute replacement flight attendant on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Cleveland on May 30, 2023. To stay awake overnight he engaged in a quiet conversation with a fellow flight attendant, according to court papers. 

“Sanchez and his colleague discussed their working conditions and everyday life. As they were both Catholic, their discussion turned to Catholic theology and then, with United’s ‘Pride Month’ activities set to start on June 1, Catholic teachings on marriage and sexuality,” Sanchez’s complaint states. 

A few days later, a user on what was then Twitter complained to the airline through its own Twitter account about Sanchez’s remarks, claiming that he overheard the two flight attendants during the flight – though Sanchez’s lawyers say in court papers that the unnamed person, who had sparred with Sanchez on social media before, was not on the flight. 

The Twitter user claimed that Sanchez “openly hates black people and is anti-trans,” according to court papers. 

During a subsequent meeting with an investigator from United, Sanchez denied making any racial comments, according to his complaint. Asked about an accusation that he is “anti-trans,” Sanchez “discussed his conversation with a co-worker during which they discussed Church teachings on marriage being between a man and a woman and that a person is unable to change his/her sex.” 

“Sanchez also noted that even though he is a gay male, he agrees with the Church’s teaching,” the complaint states, adding:  “The in-flight conversation was in low voices in the galley away from all passengers and no passenger reported any issues.” 

During a subsequent investigation of his social media posts, United highlighted 35 of more than 140,000 posts, “and accused Sanchez of lacking dignity, respect, professionalism, and responsibility on X when Sanchez was off-duty,” according to the complaint. 

But Sanchez’s complaint says United had never previously complained about his social media posts, which date back to 2010, even though several members of mid-level and senior management followed him online. 

Sanchez says in the complaint that he suspects his age was a factor in the firing because United prefers younger flight attendants and features them in its advertising and because “United has a history of targeting older flight attendants to terminate them for minor violations.” 

Sanchez also argues in court papers that United Airlines treated him differently from other employees, including firing him for personal social media posts stating his opinions on politics, social matters, and religion while retaining other United employees for more problematic social media posts, including a female flight attendant who chided some United customers as “drunks” who “drink like camels” and a female flight attendant who posted sexually provocative images of herself in a United uniform.

The flight attendant who posted images of herself was eventually fired, but only because she failed to delete a single image that depicted her in a United uniform, Sanchez’s complaint states.

“Sanchez was interrogated and investigated for his social media posts because of his age, religion, and political beliefs, while his co-workers who were younger or held different religious and political beliefs were not similarly,” Sanchez’s complaint states. 

“The termination of Sanchez’s employment served as an implicit warning and message to United’s other employees that the expression of views departing from liberal perspectives on race, political figures, the transgender movement, and public health issues would not be tolerated,” Sanchez’s lawyers wrote in the January complaint. 

Another case 

Sanchez says his case wasn’t the first time the union walked away from religious members who clashed with their employer over human sexuality. 

In May of 2022, two flight attendants who identify as Christian, Marley Brown and Lacey Smith, filed a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines and the union, saying they were fired for posting comments opposing the Equality Act, a bill filed in Congress in 2021 that sought to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in federal civil rights law and to limit religious-freedom defenses against claims arising from it. 

The airline had posted on an intra-company website its support for the Equality Act bill, and had invited employees to post their own comments on it, according to Brown and Smith’s subsequent lawsuit. But when the women posted comments challenging the bill and the company’s support for it, the company took down their comments and subsequently fired them, the lawsuit states. 

The union didn’t advocate for the women vigorously, according to the complaint. At one point, the complaint states, a union representative told Brown “that if she punched someone in the face on an airplane and it was captured on video, it would not be possible to offer much defense,” likening her opposition to proposed legislation on religious grounds to physical assault. 

In May of 2024, Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, dismissed the lawsuit. But the two women have appealed. 

Oral arguments in the Alaska Airlines case are scheduled for Friday, Aug. 22 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. 

A spokesman for Alaska Airlines contacted by CNA declined comment. 

Read More
U.S. Catholic bishops: Church will not endorse political candidates despite IRS shift

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 9, 2025 / 18:25 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed that the Catholic Church will not endorse political candidates for public office in any elections, despite a tax code change that has opened the door for houses of worship to make such endorsements.

On July 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) signed a court agreement to allow churches and other houses of worship to endorse candidates without risking their tax-exempt status. This reversed a 70-year ban that was in place based on the IRS’ interpretation of the “Johnson Amendment,” which prohibits nonprofits in the tax bracket from engaging in political campaigns.

USCCB Director of Public Affairs Chieko Noguchi, however, released a statement this week to announce that the Catholic Church will not be endorsing political candidates, even if the tax code allows it.

“The IRS was addressing a specific case, and it doesn’t change how the Catholic Church engages in public debate,” Noguchi said.

“The Church seeks to help Catholics form their conscience in the Gospel so they might discern which candidates and policies would advance the common good,” she added. “The Catholic Church maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates.”

Noguchi told CNA that if an individual member of the clergy were to endorse a candidate, “this is a matter that is best handled by the local bishop.”

Christopher Check, the president of Catholic Answers, told CNA that the USCCB’s decision to avoid endorsements is “a wise one for our time and place.”

“The Church is not one of several political organizations or NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] competing for public opinion on the cultural and civic playing fields,” Check added. “She is the primary and divine institution through which all that public activity must be understood.”

Check pointed out that avoiding endorsements is consistent with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which he explained “[prohibits] clergy from engaging in active participation in political parties except in cases where the rights of the Church are threatened or the ‘promotion of the common good requires it,’ and then only in the judgment of ‘competent ecclesiastical authority.’”

There have been situations historically in which clergy rightly engaged in political campaigns, such as when Marxist parties in some countries sought to “eradicate the Church,” according to Check. Yet he also cautioned that there have been times in which members of the clergy have “misled the faithful” by involving themselves in campaigns.

“Today in the United States, neither political party offers a platform that would serve as a foundation for a true home for faithful Catholics,” Check said. “As such, the obligation for the clergy and the episcopacy to form the consciences of the faithful rightly is especially critical. It is in this realm that the Church, who very much in a sense is above partisan politics, is called to operate.”

Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas (a Catholic institution), told CNA she believes the IRS policy to not penalize churches for political endorsements is “wise” but said the USCCB commitment to not endorse candidates “is also prudent.”

“The IRS policy is wise to leave broad leeway to religious leaders to offer guidance, even on political matters that could shape the moral and cultural atmosphere within which religious life takes place,” Hanssen said.

University of Dallas history professor Susan Hanssen. Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan Hanssen
University of Dallas history professor Susan Hanssen. Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan Hanssen

Hanssen added that the Church hierarchy and the clergy can still be vocal on political issues that implicate Church teaching, noting that they “should give clear principles of action” but that “it is the moral responsibility of the laity to potentially apply those principles.” 

She added that clergy should also help correct Catholic politicians whose policies do not conform to “the principles of natural law, for example, with regard to abortion, parental rights over their children’s education and medical care, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage.” 

“Thus their action would be appropriately pastoral, rather than political — a concern for souls,” Hanssen said.

Ryan Tucker, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA that the IRS decision could still have an impact on churches that do not endorse candidates, saying those entities have a “constitutional right to speak freely” and the IRS change ensures “they can do so more boldly” now.

“The government shouldn’t be able to threaten a church with financial penalties based on a requirement that the church self-censor and surrender its constitutionally protected freedom,” he said. “Pastors and clergy members have been engaged in matters of the day that affect the members of their church body since our founding.”

Read More
Seven Weeks Coffee hits milestone in donations given to pro-life organizations

Anton Krecic, founder of Seven Weeks Coffee. / Credit: Screen capture “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly”/Seven Weeks Coffee

CNA Staff, Jul 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Seven Weeks Coffee, an American, pro-life coffee brand, announced July 7 that it has now donated $1 million to pro-life organizations.

Founded in 2021 by Anton Krecic, the coffee company has combined direct-trade specialty coffee with pro-life values. Ten percent of the profit of each coffee bag sold is donated to pro-life organizations, specifically pregnancy resource centers.

“When my wife and I founded Seven Weeks Coffee, the skeptics doubted Americans would support a values-based company. They were wrong,” Krecic said in a press release. “We are so blessed to have gone on this journey with our customers, raising money for pro-life causes.”

During its time in business, Seven Weeks Coffee has donated to over 1,000 pregnancy resource centers in all 50 states, paid for ultrasounds for pregnant mothers in unwanted pregnancies, and estimates that it has helped save over 9,000 lives.

Women from across the country have written to the pro-life coffee company thanking it for its support.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, alone, and abortion felt like the only option. But the pregnancy center offered me a free ultrasound — and I saw my baby’s heartbeat. That changed everything,” one mother wrote to Seven Weeks Coffee after the company paid for her ultrasound.

In an interview with “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly” in 2023, Krecic discussed how he originally wanted to work in politics but ended up running a coffee company instead. He explained that he moved to Washington, D.C., “with a passion just to get involved in the political process” but that he also has always had “a very big heart for the pro-life movement.”

After visiting a pregnancy care center several years ago, the experience made a lasting impact on him, which led to his idea to start a pro-life coffee company.

“There really was no pro-life coffee company around that I really saw making a kind of a national impact … I was like, ‘There’s a mission here and there’s an impact that we can have,’” he recalled.

While trying to come up with a name for the business, Krecic’s wife asked him when a baby in utero was the size of a coffee bean. After doing some research, Krecic found that a baby in utero is the size of a coffee bean at seven weeks. Additionally, this is also when a baby’s heartbeat is clearly detectable during an ultrasound.

“So I was like, ‘That is the name. That’s what we’re going to call the company,’” he recalled.

In its first year alone, 2022 — which was also the year Roe v. Wade was overturned — Seven Weeks Coffee donated over $50,000 to more than 250 pregnancy resource centers.

“God has blessed us more than we could have ever imagined,” Krecic said.

Read More