June 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday said a

Texas federal judge likely lacked the power to order lawyers at

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) to undergo "religious liberty training" after

a flight attendant won a discrimination lawsuit, and kept his

decision on hold.

A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2023 ruling by U.S. District

Judge Brantley Starr was likely invalid because it provided no

benefit to the plaintiff, Charlene Carter, and stayed it pending

the outcome of the airline's appeal.

When courts do order anti-discrimination training, it is

typically part of a punitive remedy and not a sanction on

attorneys who played no role in the underlying alleged

misconduct, the panel said in an unsigned decision.

A different 5th Circuit panel had administratively stayed

Starr's order without explanation in September pending Friday's

decision.

Southwest ( LUV ) and the National Right to Work Legal Defense

Foundation, which represents Carter, did not immediately respond

to requests for comment.

Carter, who was a flight attendant for Southwest ( LUV ) for more

than 20 years, sued the airline and her former union in 2017.

She claimed she was fired that year for objecting on religious

grounds to the union's participation in a protest for which

Planned Parenthood was a sponsor. Carter says she is a Christian

who opposes abortion.

Southwest ( LUV ) says Carter was fired for violating company

policies regarding posting on social media and workplace

bullying.

Starr in 2022 awarded Carter $800,000 in damages and ordered

Southwest ( LUV ) to reinstate her after a jury ruled in her favor.

Last August, Starr found that in-house lawyers at Southwest ( LUV )

had flouted his rulings in the case. The judge said that instead

of notifying employees of their rights against religious

discrimination, as he had ordered, the lawyers penned a memo

warning workers not to violate the policies that led it to fire

Carter.

As a sanction, Starr ordered the lawyers to attend an

eight-hour training conducted by Alliance Defending Freedom, a

conservative Christian group that is routinely involved in

high-profile court cases on abortion and religious liberties.

Starr's decision prompted a judicial reform advocacy group

to file a complaint last year accusing the judge of violating

the judicial code of conduct by assigning a sectarian

organization to carry out the training. Starr did not comment

publicly on the complaint.

The 5th Circuit heard arguments in Southwest's ( LUV ) appeal of the

verdict, the damages award, and the sanctions on Monday. The

airline says the mandatory training violated the lawyers'

free-speech rights.

On Friday, the panel said Starr likely exceeded his

authority by imposing the training despite it having no

connection to the underlying case.

"Whether the training would benefit Carter is rather

speculative. The Southwest ( LUV ) attorneys, on the other hand, would

likely suffer a violation of their constitutional rights," the

panel wrote.

The panel includes Circuit Judges Edith Clement, an

appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, and

Kurt Engelhardt and Cory Wilson, who were appointed by

Republican former President Donald Trump.

The case is Carter v. Local 556, Transport Workers Union of

America, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-10008.

For Carter: Matthew Gilliam of the National Right to Work

Legal Defense Foundation

For Southwest ( LUV ): Shay Dvoretzky of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher

& Flom

For the union: Adam Greenfield of Cloutman & Greenfield

Read more:

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) lawyers win reprieve from religious

liberty training order

Religious rights group says it's qualified to train

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) lawyers

Judge pauses ruling ordering 'religious liberty training'

for Southwest ( LUV ) lawyers

Judge rejects Southwest's ( LUV ) 'gripe' over religious liberty

training order

Complaint filed over US judge's 'strange' Southwest ( LUV )

religious liberty training order

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)