Sanna Lindberg
H & M Country Manager
47 West 34th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
Marjorie Ramos
Human Resources Manager
47 West 34th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
H & M Herald Square, ATTN Naomi
Store Manager
1328 Broadway
New York, NY 10001
August 5, 2007
Ms. Lindberg, Ms. Ramos, & "Naomi" (last name refused) –
On Sunday July 29, 2007 I was discriminated against by an H & M employee who violated New York State’s civil rights law. I am writing to inform you about this harassment and to demand corporate attention to this very serious matter.
Last week I brought my out-of-town guests to shop at H & M at Herald Square because it is one of my favorite places to shop and they wanted new work and school clothing from New York City. While my friend shopped for work clothing on the first floor I brought her 9-year-old daughter up to the third floor to find clothing for back-to-school. My 2-month-old infant was in a sling sleeping while we shopped. At some point during clothing selection he awoke and I began to nurse him inside the sling while we continued to shop.
Shortly after, an H & M employee approached us and requested that I go to the dressing room to nurse, suggesting that nursing was an inappropriate behavior because there were children around. As I am sure you are aware, in New York State a woman is allowed to breastfeeding anywhere, public or private, where she is otherwise authorized to be and to ask her to go elsewhere or to cover-up while nursing is against the law. This employee’s actions are defined as discrimination and are unlawful in New York State.
While she was gracious after I explained to her that what she was doing was illegal and could result in a lawsuit should she choose to persist in her request, I am still quite shocked that a company like H & M in New York City has employees who are so ill-informed. Only weeks earlier Watch-maker and clothier Fossil Inc. made a monetary settlement in a similar case where they barred a woman from nursing in the store’s showroom and ended up with a lawsuit from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
This lawsuit was based on NY States comprehensive and progressive laws supporting the rights of nursing mothers. New York was the first state to enact any form of breastfeeding legislation, with laws on record beginning in 1984 (Penal Code 245.01, 245.02) and the most progressive legislation in the nation enacted in 1994 when the state amended their civil rights act to grant mothers an absolute right to breastfeed in public (NY CLS Civ R 79-e, Article 7). There is no question that the State of New York and the City of New York support the rights of nursing mothers.
For example, the City of New York banned formula samples last week in all City hospitals in an effort to boost the number of local women who choose to breastfeed their children – a sign of how firmly this city is committed to supporting nursing mothers and the breastfeeding relationship. This action came on the eve of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week, an international effort to promote breastfeeding because of the well-known health benefits it offers to both babies and mothers.
As someone who had previously purchased the majority of my clothing from your store, I am outraged by what could only be a lack of training and an absence of a formal policy for staff concerning the rights of nursing mothers. Your employee’s suggestion that nursing my infant was somehow so disgusting or unsightly and that I needed to be hidden away and keep out of sight from children was rude, embarrassing, and absolutely illegal.
This H & M employee promptly apologized and affirmed that she was not trying to discriminate and was not aware of the law prohibiting her actions. I respect that she was apologetic and attempted to undo her hurtful and unlawful actions and because of this H & M is not facing the types of public demonstrations and lawsuits that other companies across the country have faced in the last few years because of similar actions. That said, an apology is simply not enough.
I expect to hear from you promptly about how H & M plans to inform all of their employees about the rights of breastfeeding mothers and the importance of treating all customers with the respect they deserve. A formal company policy is now in place at other corporations who have violated these laws (and paid with lawsuits, such as Fossil Inc. and Delta Airlines) and I expect that H & M will be creating such a policy without the need for a lawsuit and settlement.
Sincerely,
Dr. Megan Davidson
H & M Country Manager
47 West 34th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
Marjorie Ramos
Human Resources Manager
47 West 34th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
H & M Herald Square, ATTN Naomi
Store Manager
1328 Broadway
New York, NY 10001
August 5, 2007
Ms. Lindberg, Ms. Ramos, & "Naomi" (last name refused) –
On Sunday July 29, 2007 I was discriminated against by an H & M employee who violated New York State’s civil rights law. I am writing to inform you about this harassment and to demand corporate attention to this very serious matter.
Last week I brought my out-of-town guests to shop at H & M at Herald Square because it is one of my favorite places to shop and they wanted new work and school clothing from New York City. While my friend shopped for work clothing on the first floor I brought her 9-year-old daughter up to the third floor to find clothing for back-to-school. My 2-month-old infant was in a sling sleeping while we shopped. At some point during clothing selection he awoke and I began to nurse him inside the sling while we continued to shop.
Shortly after, an H & M employee approached us and requested that I go to the dressing room to nurse, suggesting that nursing was an inappropriate behavior because there were children around. As I am sure you are aware, in New York State a woman is allowed to breastfeeding anywhere, public or private, where she is otherwise authorized to be and to ask her to go elsewhere or to cover-up while nursing is against the law. This employee’s actions are defined as discrimination and are unlawful in New York State.
While she was gracious after I explained to her that what she was doing was illegal and could result in a lawsuit should she choose to persist in her request, I am still quite shocked that a company like H & M in New York City has employees who are so ill-informed. Only weeks earlier Watch-maker and clothier Fossil Inc. made a monetary settlement in a similar case where they barred a woman from nursing in the store’s showroom and ended up with a lawsuit from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
This lawsuit was based on NY States comprehensive and progressive laws supporting the rights of nursing mothers. New York was the first state to enact any form of breastfeeding legislation, with laws on record beginning in 1984 (Penal Code 245.01, 245.02) and the most progressive legislation in the nation enacted in 1994 when the state amended their civil rights act to grant mothers an absolute right to breastfeed in public (NY CLS Civ R 79-e, Article 7). There is no question that the State of New York and the City of New York support the rights of nursing mothers.
For example, the City of New York banned formula samples last week in all City hospitals in an effort to boost the number of local women who choose to breastfeed their children – a sign of how firmly this city is committed to supporting nursing mothers and the breastfeeding relationship. This action came on the eve of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week, an international effort to promote breastfeeding because of the well-known health benefits it offers to both babies and mothers.
As someone who had previously purchased the majority of my clothing from your store, I am outraged by what could only be a lack of training and an absence of a formal policy for staff concerning the rights of nursing mothers. Your employee’s suggestion that nursing my infant was somehow so disgusting or unsightly and that I needed to be hidden away and keep out of sight from children was rude, embarrassing, and absolutely illegal.
This H & M employee promptly apologized and affirmed that she was not trying to discriminate and was not aware of the law prohibiting her actions. I respect that she was apologetic and attempted to undo her hurtful and unlawful actions and because of this H & M is not facing the types of public demonstrations and lawsuits that other companies across the country have faced in the last few years because of similar actions. That said, an apology is simply not enough.
I expect to hear from you promptly about how H & M plans to inform all of their employees about the rights of breastfeeding mothers and the importance of treating all customers with the respect they deserve. A formal company policy is now in place at other corporations who have violated these laws (and paid with lawsuits, such as Fossil Inc. and Delta Airlines) and I expect that H & M will be creating such a policy without the need for a lawsuit and settlement.
Sincerely,
Dr. Megan Davidson
I used my Dr Title (which I never do) even!
Great letter!
