Mom who was sacked for demanding private space to pump breast milk gets $255K settlement

The Brooklyn Federal court has ruled in favour of a nursing mother, awarding her $225,000 after an unlawful termination of her contract by her employers.

Under Obama’s rule, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was amended in 2010 to include a law specifically requesting employers to make room for lactating mothers at work.

The Break Time for Nursing Mothers law stipulates that the basic accommodation to be provided by the employer includes a private space, which isn’t a toilet or bathroom, for breastfeeding mothers to pump milk and a special time for doing so.

Tabetha Tyndale, 30, had to undergo several uncomfortable moments pumping breast milk for her 10-month- old baby at her desk. Her employers refused to allocate a private room for breastfeeding mothers.

“She was forced to express milk at her desk or in an open cubicle or in the bathroom,” The New York Post reports.

The Staten Island nurse filed a lawsuit against  Extended Managed Long term care, a domestic healthcare company, alleging unlawful employment practices and defilement of her civil rights earlier this year.

Tyndale’s lawyer, Eric Sanders, wrote a letter to the Brooklyn federal judge, Robert Levy with details of her encounter at work and the ill-treatment from her bosses.

Her work with the healthcare company’s Staten Island satellite office commenced in March 2018. She subsequently requested for a private space to pump milk for her baby.

Her “nagging” was unnerving for her employers and “I think it was just becoming too much for them,” she said in an interview with the NY Post.

Their decision to fire her abruptly with no valid reason made her go through an emotional roller coaster as she “experienced mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation having to express milk in a room full of people trying to work.”

There was “absolutely no privacy” because she had to pump at her desk where both men and women were busy with their work. At times, some of her colleagues called her names and openly made fun of her. At one time, she was referred to as a “milk cow.”

Judge Levy awarded the victory on September 5 and Tyndale and her former employers reached an agreement for the $255,000 payout.

Tabetha’s win is a win for all lactating mothers across the country who must constantly battle with their employers over breastfeeding their young ones.