Woman kicked out of an Old Country Buffet for breastfeeding. - Page 2

[CallMeMommy]

Originally Posted by RheaSilva

"Deputy Chief Dave Kvam said the 911 dispatcher's notes say, "Old Country Buffet manager told worker to call ... white female yelling at staff ... white female was breast-feeding and flashing the customers."

That's different than what I read. The article I saw had no mention of yelling in it. I'll have to see if I can find out where it was.

[khaoskat]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

Shouldn't they know if something is against the law before they try to "enforce the law"?

Police are only "educated" in Criminal Laws. Nursing Laws do not fall within what they are educated on in Law Enforcement Education Classes. So, because it is not a "crime" they most likely would not know about any civil or administrative type of laws. As such, they most likely got a call asking them to escort people off the premises who were causing a disturbance.

This is all being said without reading the article. From the discussion, it does not appear that they tried to charge her with a crime, just let her know that she would have to leave at the request of management. But, in the end, it may benefit her, because I am sure their official report will state the reason they were called in and why the Mother was requested/required to leave.

[ramama]

Originally Posted by RheaSilva

"Deputy Chief Dave Kvam said the 911 dispatcher's notes say, "Old Country Buffet manager told worker to call ... white female yelling at staff ... white female was breast-feeding and flashing the customers."

I agree that the woman should not have been asked to leave if it was because she was breastfeeding. However, the part I bolded sounds like disorderly conduct to me. How strong is our cause if we can't present all the evidence?

I think that women have the right to verbally defend themselves if their rights are being violated. Being upset when you are being victimized is not cause to call the police and be evicted, IMHO

[ramama]

Really?!? I thought that they can refuse to serve someone for any reason that's not illegal. They can kick you out if they don't like your tattoos, but not because of, for example, your race or any other legally protected status. I would like to think that if breastfeeding is protected as a "right" then they cannot kick her out for that.

[theboysmama]

The problem is people are focussing on the mother getting upset and "yelling" and disrupting the customers (if she even did) but the focus should be on the fact that her rights were violated, she was forced to cover or threatened to be kicked out if she didn't (which are both against the law) and then it is like..... how dare she get upset.

[finnegansmom]

Does anyone find this quote to be slightly disturbing....Kvam said if the officers were mistaken, "it's not unreasonable to believe they might not know [the law] off the top of their head," Kvam said. "It's not something we deal with with any regularity."

Like, if you are a police officer whose job is to uphold the law, you should know the laws before you stop and question someone or possibly arrest someone. Especially when it comes to someone's basic rights to feed their child. I would love to use that excuse at my job....."sorry I can't be expected to know this part of my job because I don't deal with it a lot". Can doctors use that excuse? That quote really rubbed me the wrong way....

[ramama]

Originally Posted by theboysmama

The problem is people are focussing on the mother getting upset and "yelling" and disrupting the customers (if she even did) but the focus should be on the fact that her rights were violated, she was forced to cover or threatened to be kicked out if she didn't (which are both against the law) and then it is like..... how dare she get upset.

Yes. Her rights were violated first, to which she responded as many people would. If the restaurant wanted a nice quiet eating establishment they shouldn't make a habit of violating people's rights.

[khaoskat]

Originally Posted by boobs4milk

businesses are private property and they can ask anyone to leave for any reason. she can not be charged with a crime with respect to bf (exposure).

While most businesses are private property, there are certain businesses that hold themselves out/open to the public. Good examples of these are eating places, stores, malls, etc. Those businesses who are open to the public are held to a higher standard when it comes to trespassing people off of their property, or having them removed from their property.

That is how most of the breastfeeding laws come into play with businesses such as eating places, stores and malls.

[annettemarie]

Closed pending moderator review. While we're waiting for it to come back, please take a moment and review the Lactivism guidelines.

[annettemarie]

I am reopening, with a reminder of the forum guidelines:

The purpose of this forum is not to criticize, judge or attack individuals. Name calling is never appropriate. General rants and vents will be discouraged. Please stick to discussing the facts so as to refrain from making potentially defamatory statements or casting suspicion upon people.

Please stick to discussing the facts of the incident as known, and refrain from speculation. Additionally, the purpose of this thread is NOT to criticize her reaction to the incident, but to discuss the actual incident of breastfeeding discrimination.

Feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns.

[Pirogi]

The news reports say it was the dad who was yelling and verbally abusive. The police report says it was the mom. Which was it? Make up your minds, Old Country Buffet! Sounds like a case of CYA to me.

[mamadelbosque]

Joined the facebook group. Sent them a message. We rarely eat there, but will never be doing so again. Thats just freaking awful. I can *not* imagine what I would do, but I can assure you I'd be more than a little upset too.

[khaoskat]

I am going to chime in and hopefully put it right...

I think everyone needs to go beyond or leave mom's/dad's reaction alone.

Yes, some on the boards will feel the parents reaction justified. Yes, some will feel that the parents reaction was not justified. The point is, that we all need to agree to disagree on this issue and focus on the bigger issue at hand.

I think we all need to stop fighting over was the reaction of the parent(s) justified in the issue of lactivism, because it doesn't further our purpose and the in fighting only hurts our cause and each other.

The bigger picture is regardless of how a parent reacted after the fact, that we should do something about the violation of breastfeeding rights.

As for the police - Police officers are only trained in "Criminal Laws", which are about 1 out of about 50 volumes of laws in each State. When it comes to breastfeeding, their training would encompass if it is a crime to nurse in public (ie violates public decency laws, or some other criminal law - including possible sex crime laws). The laws lactivism is looking at are Civil Laws, which are not within the jurisdiction of the police to enforce or have knowledge about.

[khaoskat]

Originally Posted by RheaSilva

It's the boob, the whole boob and nothing but the book

Don't you mean nothing but the boob, not book?

[tinybutterfly]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Please stick to discussing the facts of the incident as known, and refrain from speculation. Additionally, the purpose of this thread is NOT to criticize her reaction to the incident, but to discuss the actual incident of breastfeeding discrimination.

I am reopening this thread after deleting several posts for UAVs and I had to remove some posts simply because they did not make sense after I removed so many of the previous posts.

I would really like to leave this thread on the board for discussion. Stay on topic, stick to the facts and work together to help further the rights of breastfeeding mothers.

Thank you,

tinybutterfly

[khaoskat]

Originally Posted by ramama

Really?!? I thought that they can refuse to serve someone for any reason that's not illegal. They can kick you out if they don't like your tattoos, but not because of, for example, your race or any other legally protected status. I would like to think that if breastfeeding is protected as a "right" then they cannot kick her out for that.

A place can always kick anyone out that they want to, regardless of the fact it is legal or illegal to do so, or it violated some sort of civil right or protected interest. (Ie ADA; Breastfeeding rights, etc.) They they just "hope" that the person they kicked out just sits back and does nothing about it, which many do, and then when they don't get into trouble they continue to do it, until they get into trouble in Court - some even go so far as to continue to do the same thing despite numerous lawsuits, fines, penalties, etc....

There is no "jail time" associated with violation of Civil Rights - it is all money and publicity.....

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by theboysmama

The problem is people are focussing on the mother getting upset and "yelling" and disrupting the customers (if she even did) but the focus should be on the fact that her rights were violated, she was forced to cover or threatened to be kicked out if she didn't (which are both against the law) and then it is like..... how dare she get upset.

The restaurant says that they know and understand the law, but had TWO employees successively tell a woman feeding her baby to do it their way and the second adds that the woman would have to leave if she did not comply; then they complain when the woman and/or the husband are angry about the violation of their rights under the law.

[proudmomof4]

This is just beyond me - I thought you'd come so far with your laws in the U. S.!

[khaoskat]

For all those harping about the police and how they supported Old Country Buffet....they arrived after the couple had already left Old Country and were in their car....here is a quote...

-----
Police were called, and arrived as the couple was leaving in the car. They spoke to the couple but took no action.
-----

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...47605&catid=14 (7th paragraph from the bottom of the story)

So, the police didn't do anything...they didn't support Old Country...they didn't support the parents....they showed up due to a call, to a situation that was already under control and just spoke with the parties...and did nothing else.