By DAVID PORTER
Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. - A former Continental Airlines flight attendant fired for inappropriate behavior in 2002 has lost an attempt to sue the company for age discrimination.

In a ruling released Monday, a state appeals court upheld a ruling dismissing the lawsuit filed by Melissa Mersmann and ordering her to pay $2,500 in attorneys' fees. Mersmann was fired for her conduct during a Feb. 17, 2002, flight from Aruba to Newark.

The company alleged that Mersmann was late for the flight, made inappropriate announcements over the plane's intercom, smelled of alcohol, vomited twice during the flight and was unable to perform her duties.

Her blood-alcohol level was .061 when she arrived at Newark, higher than the .04 threshold beyond which flight attendants must undergo evaluation before resuming work.

Mersmann, who had worked for Continental since 1985, acknowledged she had consumed alcohol during her two-day layover in Aruba, but not in the 11 hours preceding the flight, and suggested that a prescription medication she was taking could have skewed the test results.

Mersmann sued Continental, claiming age discrimination, but the suit was dismissed in 2005 and affirmed on appeal in 2006.

She sued again in 2006, claiming discrimination and retaliation after she applied for a flight-attendant job at Continental and was rejected, but a judge dismissed the suit in 2007 and ordered her to pay attorneys' fees.