Lawsuit re: breastfeeding on airplanes

[Eastbayk]

I saw this on msn.com today- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15720339/?from=ET

Woman kicked off plane for breast-feeding babyFiles complaint saying she was being discreet, airline disagrees

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A woman who claims she was kicked off an airplane because she was breast-feeding her baby has filed a complaint against two airlines, her attorney said.

Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., filed the complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission late last week against Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines, said her attorney, Elizabeth Boepple. Freedom was operating the Delta flight between Burlington and New York City.
Gillette said she was discreetly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter on Oct. 13 as their flight prepared to leave Burlington International Airport. She said she was seated by the window in the next-to-last row, her husband was seated between her and the aisle and no part of her breast was showing.

A flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up, Gillette said. She declined, telling the flight attendant she had a legal right to breast-feed her baby.

Moments later, a Delta ticket agent approached and said the flight attendant had asked that the family be removed from the flight, Gillette said. She said she didn’t want to make a scene and complied.
“It embarrassed me. That was my first reaction, which is a weird reaction for doing something so good for a child,” Gillette said Monday.
A Freedom spokesman said Gillette was asked to leave the flight after she declined the blanket.


I wonder if she was removed because it made the flight attendant uncomfortable or if any passengers complained. I'm curious to see how this one plays out, sadly there will probably be no follow up available on msn.

kim

[TheWife]

Hard to know what "really" happened, because I heard from another report, can't remember where, that the pilot had apologized and asked the family to come back on the flight, but the woman says that's not true. So who knows what really happened. I heard there was a call for a "nurse in" at the Delta counters today, I thought that was a bit overboard, as clearly this was an issue with one particular attendant, and not that it's company policy, so there is no reason to go to such extremes trying to prove a point that was never questioned in the first place. And while the woman may have felt embarassed, I think a replacement flight and compensation for the lost time is called for, but I think a law suit is not.

[Adreamer's_wfe]

I have nursed all of my children, not to 22 months... and I always cover myself, no one sees anything! I find it amazing that she was removed from the flight. The Dr.'s and nurses at our hospital practically make you feel negligent if you do not nurse! Bottom line... most natural thing you can do for your child, and people get uptight about it. Not to offend anyone, but, big fake boobies = GREAT... nursing an infant = BAd... how does that work?

[Kimberly]

Amen sister!!

It is amazing how skewed social more'es are here in America about something as natural as breast feeding. Although we have made great strides over the last few years i.e.- placing family bathrooms in malls, breastfeeding rooms in churches, pumping stations in coprorate offices etc .... When I here thing like this, I realize how far we still have to go.

Maybe a lawsuit is far fetched, but there should have been a stiff penalty for discrimination for that particular FA.

[Adreamer's_wfe]

MSNBC.com

Mothers stage 'nurse-in' protest

Nursing moms take to airports in show of solidarity


Don Ryan / AP
Marnie Glickman, right, breast-feeds her daughter, Calliope, while Rachel Brusseau breast-feeds her son, James, in front of the Delta Airlines gate at Portland International Airport in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday. Approximately 35 mothers with children showed up in support of a woman that was removed, along with her family, from a Delta flight in Vermont for breast-feeding her child.
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Updated: 4:55 p.m. ET Nov 21, 2006
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SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Babies at the breast, protest signs close by, nursing mothers staged "nurse-in" demonstrations in airports across the country Tuesday, rallying behind a woman ordered off a plane for breast-feeding her daughter too openly.
"I truly hope it does get the message across," said Becky Fontana, 29, nursing her four-month-old daughter as she sat cross-legged on the terminal floor at Burlington International Airport.
About 25 women turned out here, parking themselves near a Delta Air Lines ticket counter in a peaceful — but not-so-quiet — demonstration mirroring those in airports in Boston, Columbus, Nashville, Tenn., Harrisburg, Pa., Hartford, Conn., Albuquerque, N.M., Louisville, Ky. and elsewhere. In all, more than two dozen demonstrations were planned.
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Some of the women carried hand-lettered signs saying "Don't be lactose intolerant" and "Breasts — Not just for selling cars anymore."
"We're not here to blame anyone," said Chelsea Clark, 31, of Fairfax, wearing a "Got breast milk?" T-shirt as she nursed her 9-week-old son at the Burlington airport. "It's about raising consciousness about our culture's sexualization of the breast. Breast-feeding needs to be supported wherever and whenever it happens. Babies don't know the meaning of `wait.'"
On Oct. 13, Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., was ordered off a Freedom Airlines flight about to take off from Burlington International Airport after a flight attendant asked her to cover up while she was breast-feeding her 1-year-old daughter.
She had been sitting on the New York-bound plane — which was three hours late departing — when she began nursing, prompting the flight attendance to hand her a blanket. When she refused it, the female flight attendant had her removed from the plane, along with her husband and child.

ALSO ON THIS STORY

• Breast-feeding mom kicked off plane
• Discuss: Should carrier have kicked the mom off?
• Vote: Should moms nurse babies in public?

'Lactivists' irritated
The airline later disciplined the unidentified worker. But the incident struck a nerve with so-called "lactivists" and women's rights supporters, and Gillette has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission.
"It's a basic human thing that we are doing and we should be able to do it in public without being kicked off planes, without being told to sit in bathrooms. It's a human right," said Susan Parker, 30, who participated in a demonstration at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., along with 10-month-old daughter Anna.
Using the Internet to organize, dozens of women fanned out to airports for Tuesday's protests:

• <LI class=textBodyBlack>At Boston's Logan International Airport, reporters outnumbered the five mothers who showed up at the Delta ticket counter. Ali Crehan Feeney, a certified lactation counselor from Quincy, Mass., came with her 3-year-old daughter Moira, who wore a pink T-shirt with the phrase "Little Lactivist" written on the front but wasn't nursing. "We're just appalled that was allowed to happen," Feeney said of the Gillette case. <LI class=textBodyBlack>In Columbus, about a dozen women sat on benches and on the floor near a Delta ticket counter, some breast-feeding their babies as passersby called out words of encouragement. "I think it's a challenging task and it's difficult in this society to find support for nursing, particularly in a public setting," said participant Kristine Hayes-Walkowski, of Columbus. <LI class=textBodyBlack>In Albuquerque, N.M., Gillette joined about about 30 women, children and fathers at Albuquerque International Sunport's Delta check-in counter. "This is all about women everywhere deciding to get out and support a concept," said Gillette, who said her removal from the flight, made her feel ashamed and helpless. "When women are harassed for breast feeding, a woman can end up feeling ashamed and she shouldn't," she said, tears forming in her eyes. <LI class=textBodyBlack>In Nashville, about 25 mothers, fathers and children visited Nashville International Airport, holding signs that said, "Breast fed is best fed" and "Best in-flight meal ever."
• In Portland, Ore., about 40 mothers nursed their infants at Portland International Airport. Some said it's wrong to encourage mothers to cover their breasts and babies while nursing in public. That makes infants hot and interrupts the bonding of mother and child, said organizer Amelia Psmythe. "That's part of the sweetness of breast-feeding that goes along with all the good nutrition," she said.

Travelers took it in stride, with varying degrees of tolerance.
"I think you should be discreet," said Nell Gaupel, of Covington, Ky., upon seeing the demonstration in Louisville.