Breastfeeding Mother Forced To Pump Surrounded By Dead Bugs
A breastfeeding mother was forced to pump breast milk on a floor surrounded by dead bugs. This was all thanks to alleged defiance of the Affordable Care Act and other employees who never cleaned the floor beforehand.
According to the ACA, new mothers are supposed to be allowed a reasonable break to allow them to pump breast milk on work hours. Being a break period, the law states it doesn’t need to be paid time off, but that the area in which to pump must be kept clean and out of the view of others. This is to be offered for the first year after giving birth.
On top of that, employers are forbidden to retaliate when employees complain about their boss not complying with the new law.
That seems reasonable and simple enough, yet a bottling factory employee allegedly wasn’t given the right accommodations.
Breastfeeding mother Bobbi Bockoras had been allegedly harassed for weeks after six years at Saint Gobain Verallia in Pennsylvania. She had requested a place more private and was sent to the bathroom. Again, she protested and was allegedly sent to the first aid room, where men heckled her regularly.
Who says there’s not a War on Moms?: Employer Makes Breastfeeding Mother Pump on the Floor, Surrounded by Dead Bugs http://t.co/5NQy8jyW4m
— Annie W.S. (@AnnieWords) November 7, 2013
From there, Bobbi Bockoras was sent to a room with glass walls and no lock on the door, and then a shower room.
The breastfeeding mom took to ACLU’s blog to express her feelings on the subject:
“I eventually agreed to use an old locker room, even though it was filthy, because at least it had a lock on the door – and they said they’d clean it up. But when I showed up to pump there a few days later, I found that the room had not been cleaned: it was covered in dirt and dead bugs, the floor was unfinished and had large patches missing from it, and there was no air conditioning – which is serious, because temperatures can get up to 106 degrees on the factory floor. The only furniture in the room was a single chair. I was completely disgusted, but what could I do? I only had a short break before I had to be back on my shift, and my baby has to eat, so I pumped there anyway. Even though I complained that it was filthy, the company did not have it cleaned. To make matters worse, shortly after that, someone took the chair from the room, which is how I found myself pumping on the floor, with dead bugs for company.”
The conditions for the breastfeeding mother only got worse, as fellow employees regularly pulled pranks, allegedly greasing the door knob and such. The company even started giving her rotating shifts, making it impossible for her to stay on a regular breastfeeding schedule.
According to the Affordable Care Act, the conditions described by Bobbi Bockoras are illegal. She said nobody should have to face what she did in order to properly care for her infant daughter.
What do you think breastfeeding mother Bobbi Bockoras should do in this scenario?
[image via Wikipedia]
