HOUSTON, TX — A Houston area actress is suing United Airlines amid claims that an airline employee berated her and used racial slurs toward her when she asked a question. Cacilie Hughes was in baggage claim at a Houston area airport on Feb. 26 after arriving on a flight from Michigan.

Hughes said in her lawsuit that she asked United Airlines employee Carmella Davano a question about reimbursement, and that Davano called her a “monkey.” Davano also reportedly told Hughes to stop looking at her with her “monkey face” and later called her a “shining monkey.”

“It was humiliating. It was demeaning. It was degrading,” Hughes told news station KPRC. “She made me (feel) powerless.”

Hughes reportedly asked another United employee to call police, but she said the employee refused, so she called Houston police herself, the news station reported.

Police arrived and charged Davano with disorderly conduct, according to Hughes’ attorney.
Meanwhile, Hughes said other passengers intervened on her behalf and stood up for her during the verbal assault, KTRK reported.

“I am thankful that other passengers stood up for me. Without them I would have been completely alone,” Hughes said in a statement.

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