Liberty Counsel Sues United Airlines for Religious Discrimination

Liberty Counsel sued United Airlines in three lawsuits on behalf of former employees whose religious rights were violated when the company unlawfully refused to take part in the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 religious accommodation process and fired them over its 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate. They each had religious objections to the use of aborted fetal cell lines associated with the COVID shots and chose not to inject themselves with an experimental drug.

The first lawsuit is on behalf of a former pilot,  First Officer Christopher P. Gates, who was a United pilot for over 25 years. Before that he served 11 years in the U.S. Navy earning military Instructor of the Year honors. His record displays thousands of unblemished flight hours. In September 2021, Gates submitted his religious accommodation six days after United’s questionable deadline but still twenty-one days before he was required to be vaccinated. Later that month, United removed Gates from the flight schedule and fired him in December 2021 citing the missed arbitrary deadline. Despite an appeal from his union and the court injunction against the deadline, United Airlines refused to reconsider.

The second lawsuit is on behalf of a former 26-year Contact Center Reservations Supervisor Christina DeBusk, who only worked remotely and never had any contact with fellow employees. DeBusk was also adversely denied retirement and fired over her religious beliefs.

The third lawsuit is on behalf of a former flight attendant Jintana Hampton. For twenty-eight years, Hampton served as a dedicated flight attendant working through holidays, missed family milestones, and even sacrificed vacations so coworkers could be with their families. Hampton was on medical leave when the company’s mandate took effect. Under the airline’s own policy, employees on leave could submit accommodation requests closer to their return date than an earlier arbitrary deadline set for active employees. The arbitrary deadline had also been blocked by a federal court injunction in nationwide class action suit Sambrano v. United Airlines where United Airlines conveyed to the court it would not enforce the deadline. However, United Airlines ignored the court injunction and its own leave policy to deny Hampton’s religious accommodation citing she had missed the deadline. The airline subsequently refused to engage in the required interactive Title VII process.

Liberty Counsel’s three lawsuits are separate cases from the nationwide class action suit Sambrano v. United Airlines. In June 2024, a federal judge in Texas granted class action status to more than 2,200 United employees who had received some form of religious accommodation and who were put on indefinite, unpaid leave for choosing not to get the shot. Sambrano is one of the largest class action cases ever filed against a private employer.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “United Airlines violated a fundamental principle of employment law: the duty to engage in an interactive process to accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs. Instead of engaging in the interactive process required by Title VII, United imposed an arbitrary deadline, ignored a decorated veteran’s unblemished service, and terminated him for refusing to violate his conscience over an experimental injection. Employers cannot force employees to choose between their faith and their livelihood.”

Press Releases:

Former UA Flight Attendant Sues for Religious Discrimination Over COVID Shot

Former UA Employee Sues for Religious Discrimination Over COVID Shot

Former UA Pilot Sues for Religious Discrimination Over COVID Shot