THE SEAT OF POWER

US rep. stole my first-class spot: lawyer

She may be a congresswoman, but she’s also accused of being a first-class pain.

A lawyer claims United Airlines booted her from her firstclass seat on her way home to Washington, DC, last week to give it to a congresswoman known for bullying her way into the exclusive section.

Attorney and teacher Jean-Marie Simon (inset) says she was at Bush International Airport in Houston — returning from a humanitarian trip to Guatemala — when she witnessed Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) get ushered onto the plane before everyone else lined up.

When it came time for Simon to board the Dec. 18 flight, the gate attendant told her that her ticket was not in the system, the Harvard-educated lawyer, 63, told The Post.

United said Simon’s reservation had been canceled about an hour earlier and another passenger had been upgraded to her seat.

Simon said she never canceled her flight.

United ultimately gave her another seat, but in economy class.

Simon said that during the flight, Jackson Lee sat in her spot in Seat 1A (far left).

The lawyer said another Texas congressman was sitting next to Jackson Lee during the flight and walked back to her in economy class at one point to tell her that his colleague had swiped her seat and that she “regularly does this.”

“Jackson Lee gives us all a bad name; it’s shameful,” the unidentified congressman reportedly told Simon.

Simon said she snapped a photo of Jackson Lee in her seat.

In a statement, Jackson Lee said she overheard Simon speaking with a flight attendant and saw her snap the photo.

“Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African-American woman, seemingly an easy target,” Jackson Lee told the Houston Chronicle.

“But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry.”

Simon said the congresswoman was accusing her of racism when she “had no idea who was in my seat when I complained.”