LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two former legislative aides have sued the Michigan House of Representatives, alleging wrongful termination after reporting lawmakers’ extramarital affair and other wrongdoing to Speaker Kevin Cotter’s office.

In the federal lawsuit filed Monday, Keith Allard and Ben Graham say Cotter’s then-chief of staff and a top House lawyer knew their firings were retaliation. The staffers were dismissed by the House at the request of their immediate bosses, then-Republican Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat, who had an affair and have since resigned or been expelled.

To make the affair less believable if exposed by an extortionist, Courser sent a phony email saying he’d had sex with a male prostitute.

Cotter says the suit is “wholly without merit.” He says the aides were “substandard” employees who “deserved to be removed.”