Flight attendant Charlene Carter sued her employer and her union alleging, among other things, that they discriminated against her on the basis of religion, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). In July 2022, a jury awarded Ms. Carter $5.1 million. This sum appears to be consistent with the increase in “nuclear verdicts” (that is, jury awards that far exceed expected reasonable or rational amounts), a phenomenon that has raised serious questions and concerns in recent years. But that jury award is not at issue here. After all, in December 2022, the Court reduced it significantly to $810,000. Rather, at issue here is a Texas federal district court’s order imposing very specific “training” sanctions against three attorneys.
