What happened to couple who sued airline after being kicked off flight over body odour

A couple sued an airline after being kicked off a plane because they allegedly wretched body odour.

Yehuda Yosef Adler and his wife Jennie were able to sue American Airlines after the allegation in 2020 but their court case was dismissed. As reported in the Mirror, court documents reveal that the couple will not be able to refile their case and pursue legal action against the airline.

The document states that "the dismissal of this case with prejudice" is "subject to reopening if the settlement is not concluded" and further states that all parties must pay their own legal and attorney fees. The case was officially dismissed on April 10, 2020. All parties went their separate ways.

Back in January 2019, the Adlers, along with their 19-month-old daughter, were kicked off an American Airlines flight from Miami to Detroit after passengers allegedly complained about their stench.

Yosef told WPLG Local 10 News at the time: "All of a sudden, as soon as they took us off, they closed the gate and then they said, 'Sorry, sir, some people complained you had body odour and we're not letting you back on."

The couple were told their luggage had been removed from the aircraft, however that never happened. They were left stranded at the Miami International Airport while they dealt with the airline. Their stroller and other bags — supplies for their young daughter — were left on the plane.

The Adlers were given a hotel room and meal vouchers that night, then booked on another flight the following day, but for around 24 hours, they had only the clothes on their backs. In the terminal, they told the outlet that they stopped passersby and asked them directly if they smelled. They also asked airline employees, but nobody would give them a straight answer.

On January 28 that year, the Adlers filed a civil suit against American Airlines "for discrimination that relates to the Adlers' race, religion, ancestry, country of origin, and ethnic characteristics, for denial of freedom and equality, for embarrassment, humiliation, for disparaging treatment, for defamation, for negligence and for intentional infliction of emotional distress."

The Adlers are Orthodox Jews, and Yosef believes that's the real reason they were kicked off the plane — not because of their alleged body odour, which he said didn't exist. Jennie told WPLG Local News 10 that they had bathed earlier in the day before their flight.

A video released after the incident depicts the heated father going off about the airline employees, stating: "There's a religious reason for some reason that they're kicking me off the plane. We don't have odour, OK? Nobody here has odour."

In a statement from American Airlines, however, the company argued that it had not made its decision to deplane the Adlers because of their religion.

Fernande Dalal

Update: 2024-06-22

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