Legality Question - Page 2

[snowbunny]

Originally Posted by hypatia

I don’t think we are exactly wrong – I think we’re being optimistic. I agree with your interpretation, Snowbunny, that these laws don’t explicitly prohibit a store from having a “breastfeeding patrons must cover up” policy.

Just to clarify: that's actually not my interpretation.

My interpretation is that asking a nursing mom to cover up/move etc is not illegal as it is often called on this board.

I do agree that having a policy and enforcing a policy of demanding moms cover up would put a business at risk of lawsuits--and rightfully so.

[Janice in Canada]

Re : court cases
In the incident in Toronto, Canada, that I previously posted about in this thread, there were lawsuits threatened.

The lawyer for the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada, actually said she would love to see this (asking moms to cover up) would come before a judge. She would be more than happy to trot a number of women, all nursing in varies degrees of "discreteness" or undress, before the judge, for them to make a ruling about how much skin showing, is okay, and when does it become illegal.

Janice

[laurdsed]

Discretion clauses

Hi everyone,

Interesting conversation. Our county and, soon, our city (and later this year, hopefully our state) just recently passed an ordinance that states, "No person shall interfere with a mother breastfeeding her child or expressing breast milk within any public accommodation where the mother would otherwise be authorized to be."

We have a few businesses in the area who have these "discretion clauses" (like the YMCA!) that require a mother to cover up. The Board Supervisor who drafted and proposed the ordinance, who is a civil rights attorney and is breastfeeding her 11-month old, says that these discretion clauses will be null and void once the city ordinance passes. The county ordinance only pertains to county property and unincorporated areas.

So, those of you who guessed that a breastfeeding in public law prohibits someone from demanding one covers up to breastfeed are correct. They can't have that rule b/c it interferes with the breastfeeding relationship. I agree with snowbunny's interpretation.

BTW, the ordinance, however, does not make it so that businesses are required to allow employees to pump. It just makes it so that a breastfeeding mother can't be told she has to pump in a bathroom.

Laurel