By THE ALASKA STORY
June 24, 2026 – Two former Alaska Airlines flight attendants who say they were fired for expressing their religious beliefs have won a major victory in federal court after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that their case should proceed to trial.
In a decision issued Wednesday, the San Francisco-based appeals court found there is sufficient evidence for a jury to determine whether Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants’ union unlawfully discriminated against Lacey Smith and Marli Brown because of their religious beliefs and practices.
The ruling reverses a lower court’s grant of summary judgment that had dismissed the women’s claims before they could be heard by a jury.
The lawsuit stems from comments the two women made in 2021 on an internal Alaska Airlines employee discussion forum after the company announced its support for the proposed federal Equality Act and invited employees to share their views.
According to court records, Smith responded by asking, “As a company, do you think it’s possible to regulate morality?”
Brown posted comments expressing her religious belief that the legislation could negatively affect women, girls, and people of faith.
Both women had previously maintained strong employment records with the airline. Following complaints about their comments, Alaska Airlines investigated the posts and ultimately terminated both employees.
The airline characterized the comments as “discriminatory,” “hateful,” and “offensive.”
But the Ninth Circuit concluded that a reasonable jury could find those explanations were pretextual.
Writing about Brown’s case, the court noted that Alaska Airlines had knowingly opened a forum for discussion on a controversial topic and anticipated that employees might raise religious objections.
“Indeed, Alaska was fully aware that some would object to the Equality Act for religious reasons,” the judges wrote. “That Alaska created a forum for employee discussion on controversial issues, then fired Brown after she made religious objections of the kind Alaska anticipated, provides a further reason for regarding this case as presenting a genuine dispute of fact on the reason for Brown’s termination.”
The court reached a similar conclusion regarding Smith.
The opinion noted that Alaska Airlines initially responded to Smith’s comment in a measured manner before later characterizing it as offensive and discriminatory in her discharge notice.
The judges wrote that a reasonable jury could find those descriptions “overwrought or inaccurate,” particularly because Smith’s comment was posted in an employee forum where workers had been encouraged to discuss differences of opinion.
The women are represented by the religious liberty law firm First Liberty Institute.
“We are grateful the court recognized the clear evidence of religious discrimination against Marli and Lacey by both Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants’ union,” said Stephanie Taub, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, who argued the case before the Ninth Circuit in August 2025.
“The Ninth Circuit’s decision today reinforces that federal civil rights laws protect people of faith from discrimination by their employer or their union. You cannot be fired because your employer does not like your religious beliefs,” Taub said.
The decision does not determine whether Alaska Airlines or the union violated federal law. Instead, it sends the case back to the lower court for trial, where a jury will have the opportunity to weigh the evidence and determine whether unlawful religious discrimination occurred.
The ruling comes amid ongoing national debates over workplace speech, religious liberty protections, gender identity policies, and the extent to which employers may regulate employee expression concerning social and political issues.
For Smith and Brown, the decision means they will finally have the opportunity to present their claims before a jury after more than five years of litigation.
