An Asian-American woman was left outraged after she received a racist email from the vice president of a recruitment firm she had arranged a job interview with.

Connie Cheung had applied for a role at the Chicago Search Group to work as an office management assistant when she received an email from the company's vice president which included the phrase: 'Me love you long time.'

The racially charged statement originates from the 1987 film 'Full Metal Jacket' in which Vietnamese prostitutes repeatedly used the phrase to US soldiers, and which later became a broader term of insult against those of South-East Asian descent.

Connie Cheung had applied for a role at the Chicago Search Group to work as an office management assistant when she received an email from the company's vice president which included the phrase: 'Me love you long time'

The racially charged statement originates from the 1987 film 'Full Metal Jacket' in which Vietnamese prostitutes repeated the phrase to US soldiers, and which later became a broader term of insult against those of South-East Asian descent

'Asian females have always been sexualized because of their history with Western males,' Cheung told Block Club Chicago. 'It's gross. That specific phrase is sexual. It's not just toward by race, it's sexual. That's all I could think of was, 'Why? It's 2019.'

'At first I was just in shock at how unprofessional it was,' she said. 'And also shocked because it had been a while since I had something so blatantly racial said to me.'

Company vice president Jim McMahon said the email was intended for his boss Brian Haugh, the firm's president, and was meant only as a joke.

'This was an isolated incident that will not happen again and my sincerest apologies go out to Connie and anyone else who was offended by this statement,' McMahon said.

Company vice president Jim McMahon said the email was intended for his boss Brian Haugh, the firm's president, as was meant only as a joke

Outraged at the offensive comment, a friend of Cheung reached out to the company's president, Brian Haugh, via email about the way she had been treated. Haugh wrote back: 'With all due respect, I am focused on bigger problems than your friend being offended by a movie [quote],' the email from Haugh read, according to BCC

McMahon admitted he wrote 'me love you long time' in the email because he assumed by reading the applicant's last name that she was Asian.

The woman who says the quote in the movie is Asian, too, he explained.

'It was an insensitive, inside joke only meant for my partner,' McMahon said.

'It was an insensitive comment, I realize that. It was a racist comment, I realize that…I had no racist intentions. I'm not racist, I'm certainly not sexist.'

It was a racist comment, I realize that…I had no racist intentions

'I know I was 100 percent in the wrong. I wish it never happened, I wish I could take it back. It was a huge mistake and I'm sorry,' he told Block Club Chicago.

Outraged at the offensive comment, a friend of Cheung reached out to the company's president, Brian Haugh, via email about the way she had been treated.

Haugh wrote back threatening legal action: 'With all due respect, I am focused on bigger problems than your friend being offended by a movie [quote],' the email from Haugh read, according to BCC.

'Sorry, but just don't have time for this. Best of luck to you!! You may want to google libel laws before your crew posts things publicly. Our attorneys are on call….'

Cheung is still looking for work, she later said. 'You don't hear much about discrimination against the Asian community,' she said. 'I had never thought about it. I just put applications out there and hope for the best.'