A Nigerian woman was allegedly kicked off a flight at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport after a passenger complained that she had a "pungent" odor.
Queen Obioma filed a federal discrimination suit against United Airlines in Texas, on Friday, claiming that she and her children were kicked off a flight headed to San Francisco on March 4, 2016, and it was racial discrimination.
According to the Houston Chronicle, it was their second leg of a three-flight trip from Lagos, Nigeria, to Ontario, Canada.
Obioma boarded the flight and found that a male passenger was sitting in her assigned business class seat, and refused to move from there. When flight attendant couldn't resolve the conflict, Obioma agreed to take his spot to solve the matter, according to the lawsuit.
However, when Obioma went to the restroom before the takeoff of the flight, she found that that the man is blocking her from accessing her seat.
Later, a staff of the United Airlines identified as Russel H. instructed her to step off the plane, and she was informed by another staff that the pilot has requested her to leave as the man complained that she was "pungent" and was not comfortable to fly with her.
According to a Fox report, Obioma and her children left the flight after the scene took place and made their connection five hours later. Obioma said that the airline discriminated against her because she is black.
When the airlines were asked about the incident, a spokesman for the airline informed Fox News in an emailed statement:"We have not yet been served with this suit and due to the pending litigation involved in this matter, we're unable to provide further comment."
