Can you Sue?

[transformed]

If an establishment asks/forces you to leave for breastfeeding, can you sue them?

[star thistle]

In some states -- for example New York and California -- specific civil statutes address breastfeeding in public and grant women the right to do so. Being denied that opportunity means a woman can sue for violation of her civil rights

If you live in one such state, absolutely.

[ErikaS57]

In MA you can receive up to $500 in damages (not sure the legal process however). And actually, that law was just signed on Jan 9th so won't take effect until early April (90 days after signing).

[Ann-Marita]

Of course you can! You can sue anyone for anything, if you can find an attorney to take the case.

But "Will you win the suit" is an entirely different question, depends on state (and maybe local) law, the competancy of your attorney, the mood the judge is in on the day your case makes it to court, etc.

[mamajake]

Originally Posted by hucklebearie

In some states -- for example New York and California -- specific civil statutes address breastfeeding in public and grant women the right to do so. Being denied that opportunity means a woman can sue for violation of her civil rights

If you live in one such state, absolutely.

Actually, the public breastfeeding law has to specifically give a right to bring a private lawsuit in order to be able to file a lawsuit as an individual. FWIW, while NYS includes breastfeeding in its civil rights law, it puts it in a place separate from race and sex so there is no way to file a lawsuit in NYS for violation of the public breastfeeding law alone. California's public breastfeeding law doesn't have an enforcement mechanism either (its workplace pumping law does).

To see which states have public breastfeeding laws which include penalties for violation, see http://www.mothering.com/resources/map.pdf (the green states). Sadly very few.