Jason’s Deli Employee Fired After Snapping Photos Of Customer Breastfeeding

A San Antonio mom was furious when she caught an employee at Jason’s Deli taking pictures of her breastfeeding her baby with his cell phone. So furious, in fact, that she filed a police report, as reported by USA Today.

Jamie Gustafson, 22, says she has never thought twice about breastfeeding her 2-month-old son in public, but may be a little hesitant in the future. Jamie was enjoying an afternoon out with her sister when she tells My San Antonio that “she heard what sounded like a camera shutter click.”

Gustafson turned around to find a man — an employee of the restaurant — using his cell phone to take pictures. Gustafson was so humiliated that she grabbed a paper menu to cover herself. It didn’t take long for the anger to set in, as per USA Today.

“I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. I was speechless. I got hot, my face was hot. I got sweaty, I was so mad, but I didn’t know how to confront him. I mean, what am I going to say? ‘Give me your phone?’ I wanted to take his phone and smash it.”

Gustafson’s sister then took out her cell phone and began taking pictures of the employee which ignited a verbal altercation between the sister and the employee’s father.

According to My San Antonio, Gustafson’s sister went a step further and complained to the manager at the location of that Jason’s Deli. Management told Gustafson’s sister that there was nothing they could do about the situation.

The sister was having none of that, and immediately left to file a report with the San Antonio police.

The restaurant fired the employee the very next day. Apparently, there was something more that could be done.

Katherine Velasquez with the La Leche League, which is a nonprofit organization that “promotes breastfeeding as healthy for newborns and natural for moms,” says it’s nothing new for a mom to be criticized for publicly breastfeeding her child, but not what happened to Gustafson, as revealed by USA Today.

“I’m surprised that somebody would take a picture of a woman breastfeeding. I couldn’t imagine why someone would do that.”

Madison Boozer with Jason’s Deli issued a statement regarding the incident.

“Jason’s Deli is a family friendly company. We cherish families and value the many wives and mothers who work here, and the wives and mothers who are our guests dining here. Their right to breastfeed their babies is something we support and believe in. We were deeply troubled by this employee’s conduct and not only was his conduct an explicit breach of written company policy, it was a violation of the values we care about deeply. That’s why he is no longer with the company.”

Gustafson said if management had fired the employee on the spot, things might not have escalated to the point of a police report. She tells WHNT News how she feels about breastfeeding again in public.

“I’m nervous about it. I’ll probably bring a blanket, or a cover and take a little more heed in it, but I’m not going to take my kid to the bathroom to eat.”

What is your opinion on public breastfeeding? Do you think Jason’s Deli did the right thing in firing their employee?

[Photo Credit: WVUE.com, MySanAntonio.com]