Passenger Sues Airline, Claiming Humiliation by a Flight Attendant

The artistic director of the Manhattan Theatre Club is suing Continental Airlines, claiming that a vindictive flight attendant had her detained and interrogated by the FBI without cause.

In a complaint filed yesterday in state Supreme Court, Carolyn "Lynne" Meadow said she was harassed and humiliated on a transoceanic flight to New York from Rome last August 9. Just after takeoff, having fallen asleep in her business class seat, Ms. Meadow claims she was woken by flight attendant Chris Boone's loud conversation with another flight attendant. She put her finger to her lips and said, "Shhh," which angered Mr. Boone, according to the suit.

During the first meal service, Ms. Meadow claims she tried unsuccessfully to watch a film, but found her armrest monitor and control did not work. She asked for help from the in-service manager, who accommodated her by programming the movie centrally, she said, and offering help during the flight if she had any future requests. Hours later, Ms. Meadow said she asked the manager for help again, to set up the movie screen of the sleeping passenger beside her so she could use it.

Once Ms. Meadow was comfortable, she attempted to put her own monitor back in the armrest, and it snapped off from its base. According to the suit, the monitor was attached only by an electrical connection and broke off easily.

Mr. Boone, who had noticed the many requests Ms. Meadow had made to the staff during the flight, confronted her in anger when she showed him the screen, the complaint says, exclaiming: "You destroyed airline property! There is no way this could have come off by itself."

Ms. Meadow claims she followed him into the galley, where he said, "From the moment you 'shushed' me during takeoff, I knew there would not be enough attendants on this plane to take care of you." Mr. Boone, she said, would not hear her explanation and told her, "The authorities will deal with you on the ground." At that, she began to cry and was comforted by other flight attendants, the complaint says.

When the flight was over, four or more Port Authority police officers met her, the suit claims, and detained her in front of the other passengers. She had to surrender her passport, was denied a phone call, and, following a police interview, was transferred to an agent from the FBI. After an hour, she was released without charges and her passport was returned.

Ms. Meadow faults Continental Airlines, as well as Mr. Boone, for emotional distress and humiliation and for providing her with faulty equipment on the flight.

A representative of Continental Airlines declined to comment immediately on the suit but said a flight attendant named Chris Boone is employed with the airline.

The artistic director since 1972 at the nationally acclaimed not-for-profit Manhattan Theatre Club, which produces off-Broadway musicals, Ms. Meadow has been on sabbatical to "travel and write" since August 2007. She is expected to return for the 2008-09 theater season.