Family sued airline after being kicked off flight when passengers complained they 'smell'
The family who were kicked off a flight and refused back on, following complaints from fellow passengers that they ‘smelled’, filed a lawsuit against the airline.
Back in 2019, Yossi Adler was set to travel home to Detroit with wife Jennie and their 19-month-old daughter, but were removed from the plane ‘all of a sudden’ and not allowed back on.
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They claimed staff at Miami International Airport kicked them off the flight, saying they weren’t allowed back on board due to ‘bad body odour’.
Yossi, 36, believed that the family were removed because they are Jewish, over any issue with personal hygiene.
Speaking to WPLG Local 10 News at the time, the businessman said: "There's no body odour that we have.
"There's nothing wrong with us."
Wife Jenni claimed they were confused by the whole situation, and were even so desperate to get to the bottom of what happened that they stopped several people in the airport to ask if they did indeed smell.
"We stopped several people in the airport and, it's embarrassing, but we asked them, 'Do you think we smell?' Because we just got kicked off a plane for smelling," she recalled.
American Airlines confirmed that the family were removed from the plane following complaints about body odour.
They were later rebooked onto a separate flight.
In a statement, the airline said: "Mr Adler and his wife were removed from the flight when several passengers complained about their body odour.
“They have been booked into a hotel for the night and given meal vouchers.
“They have been rebooked on a flight Thursday."
The Adlers filed a lawsuit which says that the couple and their daughter, who are Orthodox Jews, had just taken their seats when a gate agent allegedly said: “Sir, there's an emergency and you must deplane.”
"Once outside, defendant's agent told Mr. Adler that the pilot was booting the family off the plane because of body odor," the family's lawyer, Nwadi Nwogu, wrote in the suit.
"Mr. Adler asked the agent if the body odor was emanating from him, his wife or child and the agent would not respond to the question but continued to state that the Adlers must leave the plane at the instruction of the pilot and because they had extremely offensive body odor,” the suit claims.
The family told staff that they bathed earlier that day before their flight that morning.
The docket shows no updates to the lawsuit since February 2020, however, and it is unclear what happened after the lawsuit was filed.
Tyla has contacted American Airlines for further comment.