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A Virginia gay couple returning from vacation in Costa Rica say they were horrified when one of their bags landed on the airport luggage carousel open, with a large purple dildo removed from the bag and taped to the outside with Continental Airlines packing tape.

Christopher Bridgeman and Martin Borger are suing the merged United/Continental Airlines seeking unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and negligence. The men believe a Continental employee went through the bag, realized from the tag that the luggage belonged to a man, and decided to humiliate the owner by smearing the sex-toy with a foul-smelling oil and taping it to the outside of the bag. They say the zipper was in perfect working order when the bag arrived, so there was no excuse for the tape–never mind the dildo.

Their lawsuit says onlookers started laughing when they saw the bag on the carousel, causing the the couple severe emotional trauma. Borger told NBC News, “I was absolutely and utterly shocked and embarrassed and humiliated and I didn’t even know what to do at the time.” Bridgeman called the stunt “malicious.” He told NBC “It was just maliciously taped to the top and targeted because we’re gay.”

But a United spokesman says the airline conducted a thorough investigation and found the claim was not supported by the facts. Christen David told OutQ News that the airline does not tolerate discimination of any kind. David said in a statement that United offered the couple an unspecified “gesture of goodwill, which they declined.”