(JTA) — American Airlines kicked a Jewish family off a plane in Florida over what the airline said were complaints from other passengers about their body odor.
Yossi Adler, a 36-year-old business consultant from Michigan, accused the airline of singling out his family because they are Jewish. He used his cellphone to tape his argument with the ground crew shortly after they were taken off the plane. American Airlines denied the accusation.
Adler along with his wife, Jennie, and their 19-month-old daughter were seated on a Miami-to-Detroit flight on Wednesday when the ground crew asked them to step off the plane, NBC reported.
“They said, ‘Sir, people have complained that you have body odor,'” Adler told NBC News on Thursday. “I said, ‘Excuse me? I need to get home. There is no body odor on me.'”
American Airlines said in a statement: “The Adler family were asked to deplane last night after several passengers, along with our crew members, complained about their body odor. The family were provided hotel accommodations and meals, and re-booked on a flight to Detroit today.”
On the video he shot, Adler is heard saying, “There’s a religious reason for some reason that they’re kicking me off the plane. We don’t have odor, OK? Nobody here has odor.”
Moments later a ground crew member asked, “Now you told me for religious reasons you don’t shower, is that what you said?”
Adler responded, “No, I didn’t! I shower every day. I said you kicked me off because of religious reasons.”
