Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
I first wrote about this situation back in November 2024 and again when a lawsuit was filed in February. A United Airlines flight attendant was fired after reportedly having an anti-gay conversation with another flight attendant in the galley. Digging in a bit more, it looks like his social media posts might have been what ultimately did him in, though. The kicker: the flight attendant who allegedly made the derogatory comments is also gay. After he was terminated, he rallied conservative figures like Ann Coulter and Elon Musk while raising almost $20,000 through GoFundMe to sue United Airlines and his union. That day in court never happened as a settlement has been reached.
Ruben Sanchez was terminated in 2024 from his 28-year tenure as a flight attendant after an incident on a flight in May 2023 caused a customer to report him. During the redeye from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) he struck up a conversation with a colleague around their shared Catholic faith and his views around Pride Month (which began the day after the incident). The chat was apparently offensive to a passenger within earshot who reported that Sanchez said, “I hate all black people,” and “I am proudly anti-trans.” United decided to investigate his social media posts and found several that it did not like. This allegedly is what led to his removal from the airline.
Sanchez maintained that the social media posts in question reflected his Catholic beliefs on marriage and sexuality. He further alleged that United scrutinized years of his online activity unrelated to his job performance. After his termination, he sought assistance from the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), but the union ultimately withdrew its support during the grievance and arbitration process.
Sanchez brought claims of wrongful termination, religious and age discrimination, breach of contract, and failure of fair representation. A federal judge later declined to dismiss several of the claims against the union. This allowed the case to advance and increased pressure on all parties ahead of discovery. This week, the dispute was resolved amicably with the involvement of Elon Musk’s X. The Global Government Affairs team at X announced that it had helped broker an agreement between Sanchez, United, and the AFA as part of its broader commitment to supporting free speech on the platform. No details of the settlement were released and neither United nor the union issued separate statements. The resolution brought the matter to a close before trial.
Anthony’s Take: It’s highly unlikely that the terms of the settlement will ever be known. It’s also impossible to know what was actually said. I don’t agree with the social media posts made by Sanchez, but I do support his right to free speech. Now, that is not to say anything goes. There are limits. Words have consequences and you can’t be controversial online and not expect it to come back to haunt you. This could potentially cost you your employment if what you post goes against a company’s policies and in this case it did. Will Sanchez be rehired and flying with United again? That detail has also not been shared.
(H/T: Live and Let’s Fly.)
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
