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A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit filed by two former Alaska Airlines flight attendants who said they were fired after expressing religious objections to the airline’s support of the Equality Act, allowing religious discrimination claims to proceed.
Ninth Circuit reigned on Wednesday Lacey Smith and Marli Brown now have enough evidence for a jury to determine whether they were fired for their religious beliefs, reviving their lawsuit against the airline.
“We are grateful that the Court recognized clear evidence of religious discrimination against Marli and Lacey by both Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants union,” First Liberty Institute senior attorney Stephanie Taub, who argued before the Court in August 2025, said in a statement. he said.
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Headshot of Lacey Smith. (First Freedom Institute)
“Today’s decision by the Ninth Circuit reinforces that federal civil rights laws protect people of faith from discrimination by their employers or unions,” Taub added. “You can’t be fired just because your employer doesn’t like your religious beliefs.”
In early 2021, Alaska Airlines said it would support the proposed Equality Act on an online internal employee network.
Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The Equality Act, introduced by , sought to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in employment, housing, and other capacities under federal civil rights law. It was passed by the Parliament in February 2021.
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An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft arrives at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on March 7, 2026. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
The airline asked employees to comment in an online forum for employees, and Smith wrote, asking: “Do you think it’s possible as a company to regulate ethics?”
In the same forum, Brown shared a comment conveying his sincere religious beliefs that the Equality Act would negatively impact women, girls, and people of faith.
Following their comments in the online forum, Smith and Brown were investigated and fired from their jobs; Alaska Airlines said Smith and Brown’s comments were “discriminatory,” “hateful” and “offensive.”
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Flight attendants Marli Brown and Lacey Smith found themselves at the center of a controversy when they invoked their Christian faith while opposing Alaska Airlines’ support for the Equality Act. (Fox News Digital)
“While the case is between me and Alaska, the victory in the Ninth Circuit is for a nation of people who also experience religious discrimination in the workplace,” Smith said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“I was overwhelmed with gratitude when I read the Ninth Circuit’s decision. With this favorable decision, I am hopeful that no one will ever have to go through something like what I went through,” Brown told Fox News Digital.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Alaska Airlines for comment.
Fox News’ Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.
