Naomi Campbell To Face Legal Action Over Airport 'Racism'?

Naomi Campbell is facing the prospect of legal action from staff at British Airways (BA) - after accusing them of racism.

The catwalk beauty was sentenced to 200 hours community service and fined $4,500 (GBP2,250) after pleading guilty to assaulting two police officers on board a BA plane at London's Heathrow Airport.

Campbell was arrested in April (08) onboard a Los Angeles-bound plane following a dispute over her luggage, which was lost in the airport's recent Terminal 5 baggage handling fiasco.

And after she was sentenced at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court in west London on Friday (20Jun08), the star made a statement on TV accusing BA staff of provoking her behavior with racist slurs.

She told the U.K.'s Sky News, "As for British Airways, I don't apologize. I just think they're disgusting. I was called a racial name on that flight and that was part of my reaction - again, nothing to do with the police, but yes, from British Airways.

"I was called a 'gollywog supermodel'. I don't think that's really fair - do you?"

But the staff involved in the dispute are now reportedly planning to sue the supermodel for libel in a bid to clear their names.

A source tells British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, "Miss Campbell didn't name the member of the cabin crew who supposedly used this racist word. But it is a serious slur against a small group of people whose identities are now well known within the airline.

"It seems strange that Miss Campbell should only make this allegation after her case was heard. The crew members have talked to lawyers, but their line managers are apparently less keen. They don't relish the idea of going to court as it will resurrect the whole issue of the lost luggage that BA would obviously now like to draw a line under."