For more than 10 years, Pamela “P.J.” Harper was director of the legislative travel office, arranging air flights for Sacramento lawmakers. But shortly after returning from maternity leave, she resigned and filed suit against the State Assembly. The problem? Harper claimed she was demoted for taking time during the workday to breastfeed her infant daughter.
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Employee Leaves Work to Nurse Baby
When Harper returned to work after her maternity leave, she needed to breastfeed her infant every four hours to avoid breast infections. The child was cared for several blocks away at the Capitol daycare center. To minimize missed worktime, Harper said, she skipped her one-hour lunch break and nursed her daughter for 30 minutes at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
But the Assembly claimed Harper sometimes took up to two hours a day to breastfeed her daughter. Then, a month after Harper returned from maternity leave, the Assembly Rules Committee sent her a letter advising her that “taking time away from work to nurse, at times other than your lunch hour, should be curtailed.” Two days later the Rules Committee notified her she was no longer the travel office director and was demoted to another position. Harper quit soon after and brought her lawsuit.
Big Settlement
The Assembly denied any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the suit, shelling out $540,000 and providing lifetime health benefits to Harper.
Accommodation Required
A new law took effect in California after this case arose requiring employers to accommodate nursing mothers’ needs in the workplace. Here’s a rundown on your obligations:
- Break time. State law requires all California employers to provide a reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee wishing to express, or pump, breast milk for her infant child. The break time can run concurrently with any other break time already offered to the employee. If additional time is needed, it is to be unpaid. You don’t have to provide extra break time if it would seriously disrupt your operations.
- Privacy. You must make a reasonable effort to provide the employee with the use of a private room, other than a toilet stall, close to the employee’s work area. Ideally, the employee could lock the room from the inside. If an employee has her own office, it may be able to serve as the private room. But a cubicle—even if completely enclosed—would not meet the privacy requirements.