Employees were given new rights to a secure and private place in which to express breast milk under a 2010 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act; however, that amendment does not give those employees a private right to sue their employers for failing to provide such a space. Instead, said the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, employees who are denied their right to express breast milk must contact the U.S. Department of Labor, which is then authorized to investigate and take further action. (Salz v. Casey’s Mktg. Co., No. 11-cv-3055 (N.D. Iowa July 19, 2012))
In the case, the employee, Salz, requested an area to express breast milk. Her employer, Casey’s allowed her to use the store’s office, which was equipped with an active video camera. After Salz expressed discomfort with the presence of the camera, Casey’s failed to promptly and adequately respond to her concerns. Shortly after Salz’s complaints about the room, she was reprimanded for different work-related reasons. Salz sued Casey’s on two grounds: (1) for failure to provide her with a private and secure area to express breast milk; and (2) for retaliating against her after she complained about the room.
The court found that while Salz herself did not have the private right to sue her employer for failing to provide her with a private and secure area, she nevertheless had a viable claim for retaliation because Casey’s reprimanded her shortly after her complaints about not having a private and secure area.
The Salz case is one of the first to consider this FLSA amendment, and the topic is still an area of law that has been untested. However, the case does clear up a few questions about the FLSA’s breastfeeding provisions (such as how its enforcement is likely to be carried out), and reminds employers to keep track of this developing area of the FLSA.