California Woman Claims Boss Refused To Let Her Pump Breast Milk At Work

Seal Beach, CA – Single mother Kristen Joseph, 28, claims her boss at Hennessey’s Tavern denied her request to pump breast milk at work. Kristen Joseph maintains her supervisor at the Seal Beach, California bar told her pumping breast milk to store for breast feeding her six-month-old son was “disgusting,” according to Fox News.

Kristen Joseph claims that when she asked her Hennessey’s Tavern on-duty manager if she could have the keys to the bar officer to pump breast milk, he refused.

“He said that whether it’s in an office or in the bathroom, I was still in the restaurant and that was disgusting and that people eat here. I went outside and I was freaking out and crying. My co-workers tried to calm me down,” Kristen Joseph stated during an interview with KTLA News.

The breast feeding single mom was reportedly given permission to leave the bar after she got so upset, but she opted to stay and finish her shift. After work, Kristen Joseph called the Hennessey’s Tavern corporate offices to discuss the breast milk pumping incident further. Hennessey’s Tavern officials are conducting an investigation into the alleged breastfeeding denial.

Kristen Joseph typically takes a 10 minute break while working at Hennessey’s Tavern to pump breast milk for her son Wrigley in the manager’s office. The California single mom notes how uncomfortable she becomes if she does not pump milk for breastfeeding as a reason for the need to pump at work.

“If I don’t pump, then my breasts are very engorged and they hurt and they leak,” Joseph told KTLA News.

Federal law mandates that employers of 50 or more workers must provide an area, other than a rest room, for women to pump breast milk. Pumping milk for breastfeeding while in a public space is also permissible under the federal statute.