AYFKM Nationwide? shitty treatment of a lactating mom.

[pugz]

www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/supreme-court-lets-stand-ruling-that-firing-woman-for-breastfeeding-not-sexist-because-men-can-lactate/


The Supreme Court has declined to overturn a lower court’s ruling that an insurance company was within bounds when it fired a breastfeeding mother. The woman’s suit was dismissed by the Eighth Circuit Court on the grounds that firing a woman for breastfeeding isn’t sexist because men can lactate, too.



The ACLU’s Galen Sherwin wrote Monday that former Nationwide Insurance Company employee Angela Ames sued her employer when she returned from maternity leave to find that no allowances had been made to enable her to pump breast milk for her baby during the day.



When Ames asked her supervisor for accommodations that would enable her to express milk and store it for her child, the supervisor reportedly responded that Ames should “go home and be with your babies” instead. That supervisor went on to dictate a letter of resignation to Ames that day, effectively forcing her to resign.





Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Nationwide and the Eighth Circuit Court, denying Ames’ petition for a review of her case’s dismissal. The trial court’s decision — which the Circuit Court upheld — said that for Nationwide’s firing of Ames for taking time to express milk at work could not have been sexist because under certain circumstances, some men can lactate, too.



“The court’s reasoning in this case echoes old Supreme Court pronouncements that discriminating against pregnant women at work isn’t sex discrimination because both men and women can be non-pregnant,” Sherwin wrote. “Congress long ago rejected this ridiculous reasoning when it passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. It’s disheartening to see it resurface again.”



The Court also found that the dismissive statement that Ames should “go home and be with (her) babies” was in fact gender neutral and not directed at Ames because she was a new mother.



“As the ACLU and 11 other organizations argued in a brief supporting Angela’s appeal, that comment reflects exactly the type of sex stereotype — that women will be less committed to their work after having children, or that they belong at home taking care of the children — that the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in employment was aimed at eradicating,” Sherman wrote.



Additionally, the circumstances around the case indicate that Ames was pressured into agreeing to sign the letter of resignation when she was upset and in pain. It was her first day back from maternity leave and Nationwide denied her access to the company’s “lactation room” for new mothers because they said they needed three days to process Ames’ paperwork, a requirement no one had seen fit to tell Ames about until the day she returned to work.



A company nurse reportedly informed Ames that she could use a common area typically used by sick employees if she had to lactate that badly. The sick room, however, did not have a locking door and someone was occupying the room when Ames attempted to enter.



As Ames waited for the room to be clear, her breasts painfully swollen and beginning to leak, her supervisor came to her desk and informed her that she would be responsible for all of the work that she had missed during her leave time. All of it must be completed, said the supervisor, within the next two weeks — meaning a considerable amount of overtime — if Ames did not want to face disciplinary action.



Sherwin wrote, “She finally returned, in increasing panic and pain from the pressure in her breasts, to her department head to see if there was anything she could do to help her find a place to pump. That’s when the department head made the “just go home to be with your babies” comment and dictated her letter of resignation.”



Ames’ case, said Sherman, “shines a harsh light on the multi-layered workings of structural discrimination: Workplace policies that don’t make space for the realities of pregnancy and motherhood, employers’ entrenched sex stereotypes and implicit bias, and courts that — despite decades-old legal protections — still manage to turn a blind eye to the pervasive discrimination faced every day by working women.”

[NewOrleans]

[onthemove]

How do I put one of those "I don't need feminism" gifs here?

Thank goodness we're all equals!

[aurora]

Aurora crosses Nationwide off of list of possible insurers.

[Elsa]

Well, just in case you didn't already hate them for their shitty commercial, there's this too.

[zoegirltx]

WTF SCOTUS??!?!?!?

can a lawyer explain to me how this is not a case they would hear???

[changedname]

Holy crap.

It makes me appreciate my boss so much now!

[thatgirl2478]

Feb 3, 2015 20:13:01 GMT -5 aurora said:

Aurora crosses Nationwide off of list of possible insurers.

YES!

[niemand88f]

"The Court also found that the dismissive statement that Ames should “go home and be with (her) babies” was in fact gender neutral and not directed at Ames because she was a new mother."

Yes, men certainly hear comments like this all the time after becoming a father. Obviously there is no gender bias to see here. :-#

[pugz]

I'm curious what year this occured in, was it before the protection for nursing mothers was written into law? Nationwide is a huge employer, certainly more than 50.

[stephm0188]

This really surprises me. I have friends who worked at their headquarters and they raved about how awesome the accomodations for nursing moms were. There's apparently a really nice lacation room with company provided pumps.

[badgergrl]

I want to be a fly on the wall as a bunch of appellate level justices sat around discussing whether or not men can lactate. I don't often get to say this anymore but good fix SCOTUS.

[orangeblossom]

Yes, because those few lactating men, are feeding their babies on demand. Get out of here with this foolishness.

[craftyone]

Feb 3, 2015 20:26:22 GMT -5 pugz said:

I'm curious what year this occured in, was it before the protection for nursing mothers was written into law? Nationwide is a huge employer, certainly more than 50.

Recently 2012ish. Sounds like they had a weird policy in place that required paperwork for badge access and were being jerks about helping her find a place to pump the day she got back to work.


blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/03/17/appeals-court-rules-against-breastfeeding-employee-who-claimed-discrimination/

[secretlyevil]

Remember ladies, women are just kind of like people.

[karinothing]

Just informed DH he is nursing our next kid.

[StrawberryBlondie]

I know one of the attorneys involved in litigating this case. I didn't see in the article - which courthouse of the 8th circuit did this come out of? We get some weird rulings depending on which court it was.
ETA: if this was en banc, I quit life.

[penguingrrl]

Wow, between the SB commercial and this Nationwide has pretty clearly demonstrated that they are not on our side as their commercials would suggest.

[josieposy]

So SCOTUS was drunk today?

[ttt]

WTF WTF WTF WTF? Is this for real???

[craftyone]

So I was looking at the law. The federal law applies to hourly workers only. Salary workers are only covered by the state laws.

www.usbreastfeeding.org/Employment/WorkplaceSupport/WorkplaceSupportinFederalLaw/BreaksCoverage/tabid/357/Default.aspx

So if no state laws on the books for salaried workers you aren't even covered. :/

[craftyone]

dup

[pugz]

Feb 3, 2015 21:01:13 GMT -5 craftyone said:

So I was looking at the law. The federal law applies to hourly workers only. Salary workers are only covered by the state laws.

www.usbreastfeeding.org/Employment/WorkplaceSupport/WorkplaceSupportinFederalLaw/BreaksCoverage/tabid/357/Default.aspx

So if no state laws on the books for salaried workers you aren't even covered. :/

that is some motherfucking bullshit right there

[ajj]

WTF?! I have no words. 

[tripleshot]

Nationwide is not on your side.

[picksthemusic]

I hated them when they had Payton Manning doing endorsements for them. Then the SB ad. Now this? No thanks. They are never getting off my shit list.

[Velar Fricative]

Fine. Nationwide wins the law but they won't win social media. Don't piss off the laydeez, Nationwide.

[UMaineTeach]

:?

[StrawberryBlondie]

I just read the Circuit Court decision. It makes the situation sound so much worse than this article does.

[simplyinpenguin]

I think I would've demanded that they bring in an actual male who will shoot out breast milk on command, you know, once they confirmed tests that he actively gestated a fetus for 9 months and pushed it out of his tiny little urethra. Come ON with this shit! "Because men can lactate too"?

And men are still being DERIDED AND RIDICULED when they actually want to spend time with their new baby. My assistant manager was being persuaded by the (female) supervisors to go home early so he can play with his baby. His higher up wrote him up and basically told him to let his wife do the raising. Thank God that douche is being transferred soon.