(CNN) A Michigan couple is suing American Airlines for discrimination, alleging in a lawsuit that an airline agent kicked them off a flight for what the employee said was "extremely offensive body odor" and told them he knew that "Orthodox Jews take baths once a week."

Yehuda Yosef Adler and Jennie Adler say in the lawsuit they do not have offensive body odor. They are accusing the airline of discriminating against them because of their religion and defaming them, and say that they experienced embarrassment and humiliation and defamation because of the incident last year.

In January 2019, the couple, along with their 19-month-old daughter, boarded an American Airlines flight from Miami to Detroit. Within five minutes of taking their seats, the couple was approached by an agent who told them that they needed to deplane because there was an emergency, according to a lawsuit filed January 28 with the District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Once the couple stepped off the plane, the agent told them that the pilot had booted them because they had "extremely offensive body odor," the lawsuit said. The couple said they were shocked because they had never received complaints about their body odor on flights, and that they had showered that morning, the lawsuit said.

The agent responded by saying he knew that Orthodox Jews take baths once a week, according to the lawsuit.

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