Southwest Airlines has agreed to pay $18.5 million and provide unprecedented paid-leave benefits for at least 5 years to resolve a class action lawsuit brought by pilots and other workers. The workers who brought the case are military service members who accused the airline of violating their rights under the Uniformed Services and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
The agreement, which requires court approval, would be the largest USERRA class action settlement on record and provide groundbreaking policy changes for Southwest employees.
First filed in 2019, the lawsuit challenged Southwest’s refusal to pay short-term military leave (for example, for National Guard service or reservist deployment) despite providing other types of paid leave, such as jury duty, bereavement and sick leave.
USERRA requires employers to treat military leave at least as favorably as other comparable forms of leave. The plaintiffs argued that Southwest’s policy amounted to unlawful discrimination against service members. The issue is especially important for service members who work for airlines, where many pilots also serve in the military.
Under the proposed settlement terms, on top of $18.5 million in monetary relief, Southwest agreed to provide up to ten days of paid short-term military leave each year to eligible employees starting in 2026, for at least the next five years. No other major U.S. airline has matched this benefit to date.
“When we started litigating this case six years ago, there was limited case law on employers’ paid-leave obligations under USERRA,” said Michael Scimone, a partner at Outten and Golden and co-lead counsel for the class. “Today, the issue is far more established, though we still have a long road ahead. This agreement with Southwest Airlines marks a major inflection point in terms of how employers think about paid military leave. We hope it sends a powerful message to the rest of the airline industry that paid short-term military leave is in everyone’s best interest.”
Scimone represents workers in similar paid leave cases against United Airlines, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, Amazon, and UPS, among others.
Outten & Golden LLP serves as co-lead class counsel, along with co-lead counsel The Barton Firm LLP and co-counsel Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC, Riverside NW Law Group, and the Law Office of Thomas G. Jarrard PLLC.
The case is Jayson Huntsman et al v. Southwest Airlines Co., No. 3:19-cv-00083 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
What’s Next for the Southwest Airlines USERRA Class Action?
On September 25, 2025, plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement. If granted, notice will be sent to class members.
The class includes nearly 2,800 current and former Southwest employees who took short-term military leave between October 10, 2004, and January 1, 2026, and were subject to a collective bargaining agreement.
Following additional procedural steps, the plaintiffs will then file a motion for final settlement approval to be signed by the judge.
Outten & Golden is a nationwide leader in protecting military service members’ workplace rights. If you believe your employer violated USERRA or any other workplace laws, contact us here.
