United’s Crew Union Tried to Shut Down Gay Catholic Flight Attendant’s Lawsuit — A Judge Just Said No
- The Association of Flight Attendants tried to shut down a discrimination lawsuit brought by a gay Catholic flight attendant who was fired over controversial posts he liked on social media. But a federal judge has ruled that Ruben Sanchez will have his day in court.
A gay Catholic former United flight attendant who is suing the airline after he lost his job for sharing social media posts that argued that transgender rights should not be linked with the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual movement has won a legal battle to stop his lawsuit from being thrown out of federal court.
Ruben Sanchez, a veteran flight attendant who had worked for United Airlines for nearly 28 years before he was suddenly fired in January 2024 over his private social media habits, is suing both United Airlines and his union for failing to fight his corner.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) attempted to have his lawsuit dismissed, claiming that Sanchez failed to provide enough evidence that it didn’t give him fair representation on the grounds of his age and religious beliefs.
At the end of June, however, the US District Court for the Central District of California threw out the union’s motion for dismissal, paving the way for Sanchez to have his day in court in front of a jury.
Sanchez’s troubles with United and the AFA began in May 2023 when an anonymous complaint was made to the airline claiming he had made homophobic and transphobic comments during a redeye flight from Los Angeles to Cleveland.
During a private conversation with a colleague in the galley area of the plane, Sanchez admits he discussed Catholic theology, including marriage and sexuality, in the context of Pride month.
When Is United Allowed to Snoop On An Employee’s Social Media Accounts?
Sanchez’s lawsuit against United claims the airline trawled through tens of thousands of posts on his social media accounts to find evidence against him.
United’s internal policies state that the airline doesn’t routinely monitor the social media of its employees but does have the right to investigate if they are made aware of questionable content.
The internal policy reads:
“Generally, United does not actively monitor employees’ personal social media accounts. However, there may be occasions where an employee’s personal social media activity may be viewed by individuals at United and their identity determine if the post is without a name or under a false name.”
“If United is made aware of content on social media involving an employee that potentially violates these standards, we have the right to investigate and take appropriate action. We will take into account many factors, including but not limited to the type of posting, audience, impact to the brand and our corporate reputation, and any previous counseling or coaching.”
“Appropriate action can be anything from asking you to remove a certain post in minor cases to termination in cases of significant misjudgment.”
Sanchez told his coworker that he believes marriage can only be between a man and a woman and that a person is unable to change his or her sex.
Respectful of the fact that passengers were in close proximity, Sanchez says the conversation was in low voices and out of earshot of passengers.
United then received an anonymous complaint from a user on X about the conversation Sanchez had on this flight, accusing him of being transphobic.
An investigation was quickly launched, and while United quickly found the allegation to be meritless, the airline continued to look at Sanchez, turning its attention to his social media accounts, including on X.
United crawled through tens of thousands of posts that Sanchez had liked or reposted and eventually selected 35 posts that the airline claimed proved Sanchez lacked dignity, respect, and professionalism.
At the time, Sanchez had made, liked, or commented on more than 140,000 posts, meaning that the evidence United relied upon represented just 0.02% of his history on X (formerly Twitter).
Sanchez admits that he reposted and liked posts that are critical of linking the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual movement with the Transgender movement. Sanchez maintains that it is his political opinion that the “transgender movement is distinct and does not further the “LGB” movement.”
Sanchez sought help from the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), but after local representatives initially agreed to support him and reassured him that he hadn’t done anything wrong, the union made a sudden u-turn when the case reached its national master executive council.
The lawsuit alleges that the flight attendant union refused to help Sanchez because its national leadership did not agree with his political and religious beliefs.
In a statement, Sanchez’s law firm, Schaerr Jaffe, said, “The AFA, Sanchez’s exclusive bargaining representative, did little to defend him in the early stages of the grievance process and then chose not to pursue arbitration for arbitrary and discriminatory reasons, and in bad faith.”
Sanchez is currently working as an active-duty member of the Air National Guard in Alaska, but, ultimately, he would like to win his job as a flight attendant at United back, saying in a Go FundMe page that he used to save money to pay for the lawsuit that the legal fight was what “God wants me to engage in.”
Elon Musk’s X Corp is also supporting Sanchez in his fight against United and the flight attendant union.
What do you think… Should United ever have investigated Sanchez over these allegations? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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I urge you all to review the Railway Labor Act carefully. It’s vital to understand that this could lead the National Mediation Board (NMB) to submit the tentative contract to President Trump. We must acknowledge that Trump and his Presidential Emergency Board often prioritize business interests over labor concerns.
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