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Got Milk? Get Fired

By Carolyn Elefant

The WSJ Juggle Blog reports on an Ohio Supreme Court decision finding that a company that fired a female employee who took unscheduled breaks from work to pump breast milk did not violate Ohio's pregnancy discrimination or sex discrimination laws. The facts, as summarized in the post: [LaNissa Allen] was fired after taking unscheduled breaks from work to pump milk. She fed her five-month-old baby before reporting to work for her 6 a.m. shift, but found waiting until her scheduled 11 a.m. break to pump milk was too difficult. Any breastfeeding mother could relate to the discomfort and leakage Ms. Allen said she was experiencing. Ms. Allen asked her bosses either to let her take an extended break at 10 a.m., or to extend a brief 10-minute break she was allowed at 8 a.m., to allow her time to pump, but neither request was granted. After suffering for several days, Ms. Allen began taking an unscheduled restroom break around 10 a.m. every day to use her breast pump, court papers show. A supervisor told her she was violating work rules by not waiting until her 11 a.m. break, and she was later fired. Allen sued, arguing that her termination violated...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on August 31, 2009 (boomark / email).