Yesterday we reported that the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Yadiris Rivera, who was fired from her job for wanting to pump breast milk during the work day. The Daily News is reporting that her employer, Medical Imaging of Manhattan (an Upper East Side mammography center), is denying the charge. Colleen O'Brien, who is named in the complaint, told the paper the company is "offended by these false allegations."
O'Brien goes on to explain, "Like so many medical practices affected by the economy over the last few years, this practice has been forced to engage in significant personnel reductions. Ms. Rivera was terminated as part of a layoff which evaluated the needs of the practice and the job performance of the employees selected for layoff." However, Rivera had received positive reviews and performance-based raises during her entire six years at the company. When WCBS asked what the low point was for her, she told them I was sent to the restroom, single stall. It was just horrible. I told them it was not sanitary."
Rivera says she was eventually forced to choose between feeding her daughter and keeping her job, even though state laws protect a mother's right to breastfeed or pump in the office for three years after the birth of their child. When she didn't stop pumping, she was allegedly punished for what had been normal conduct (eating at her desk, wearing perfume), and eventually fired.
The NYCLU's Galen Sherwin says, "One would hope that a business that deals with the health of the human breast would have more sensitivity to employees' needs to breast-feed."
