Elon Musk’s X Scores Legal Victory Against United in Flight Attendant ‘Free Speech’ Battle
- After United Airlines combed through 140,000 of his private social media posts to find grounds for termination, gay Catholic flight attendant Ruben Sanchez has settled his wrongful dismissal lawsuit—with the financial and legal backing of Elon Musk’s X.
A gay catholic flight attendant who was terminated by United Airlines for alleged discriminatory behavior and inappropriate social media use has settled a lawsuit against the Chicago-based carrier with the help of Elon Musk’s X platform.
After a career spanning 27 years, Ruben Sanchez was suddenly fired in January 2024 after United Airlines opened an investigation into comments that he had made to a coworker and that were overheard by a passenger.
After the passenger reported the comments to United, Sanchez’s manager allegedly trawled through his social media accounts, using evidence of posts that he had liked, commented on, and shared on X as evidence for his dismissal.
- X confirms that it helped broker a settlement with United Airlines
- Ruben was terminated after more than 28 years of service
- United trawled through social media posts to build case against Ruben
- Flight attendant union accused of refusing to help Ruben
- United says it doesn’t routinely monitor employee social media accounts
- Bottom line
X confirms that it helped broker a settlement with United Airlines
On Thursday, the Global Affairs Team for Elon Musk’s X platform confirmed in a short post that it had helped to broker a legal settlement between Sanchez and United Airlines, as well as the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), which is the official union for United’s crew members.
The statement read: “We are pleased that X was able to help Ruben Sanchez amicably resolve his dispute with United Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants.”
The statement added: “X stands firm in its commitment to defend free speech on its platform.”
No further details of the settlement were shared by X, although legal filings show that the lawsuit against United and the AFA has been dismissed with prejudice – that means that the case is permanently closed and cannot be reopened.
As part of the settlement, each party in the dispute is to bear its own attorneys’ fees and costs.
Ruben was terminated after more than 28 years of service
Ruben was terminated in January 2024, but his lawsuit for wrongful dismissal wasn’t filed for more than a year later because he had been trying to raise the money through a GoFundMe page to pay the attorneys’ fees.
According to Ruben’s original complaint and GoFundMe page, he is an openly gay Roman Catholic.
During a flight from Los Angeles to Cleveland in May 2023, Ruben says he had a private conversation with a coworker in which he discussed Catholic theology, including about marriage and sexuality, in the context of ‘Pride Month,’ which United actively participates in.
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.
The lawsuit claims the conversation was held in hushed voices and out of earshot of the passengers, but an anonymous complaint about the conversation was made to United, and Sanchez was put under investigation.
United trawled through social media posts to build case against Ruben
Allegations of transphobia stemming from this conversation were ultimately dismissed as meritless, but United set about trawling through Sanchez’s social media accounts, and, in particular, his X account.
Sanchez didn’t identify himself as a United Airlines flight attendant on X and rarely posted his own content on the platform, but he did regularly comment, like and share other posts.
Of all of these posts, United found 35 that it claimed proved Sanchez lacked dignity, respect, and professionalism.
By this point, 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, and, before it, Twitter.
Flight attendant union accused of refusing to help Ruben
Sanchez sought help from the AFA, and after initially supporting him, the union made a sudden U-turn when his case reached its national master executive council.
When Sanchez sued United for wrongful dismissal, he also included the AFA as a defendant, over the union’s apparent refusal to help him, even though it had supported other flight attendants accused of social media snafus.
Earlier this year, the AFA asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that Sanchez had 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.
United says it doesn’t routinely monitor employee social media accounts
United’s internal policies state that the airline doesn’t routinely monitor the social media of its employees, but it does have the right to investigate if it is 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.”
Bottom line
After Sanchez filed his lawsuit, the case quickly made headlines, and X stepped in to cover his attorney’s fees. Behind the scenes, it appears that X had been working to get an out-of-court settlement.
Details of the settlement have not been made public, and Sanchez has yet to comment on the outcome of the case.
