State worker told to pump breast milk in utility closet

A state worker who was told to go pump her breast milk in a storage closet is calling on Gov. Jack Markell to add secure rooms to all state office buildings for mothers to pump breast milk.

Nicole DeForest, a secretary with the state's Division of Facilities Management, has filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing her supervisor of failing to provide adequate accommodations for her to express breast milk as required under federal law.

DeForest planned on nursing her now-14-month-old daughter Elly for one year. Experts say the hormones, cells and antibodies in breast milk are beneficial to babies, protecting against such things as ear infections, obesity, asthma and diarrhea.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies should be "exclusively" breast-fed during the first six months of life – up to a year is more beneficial.

When DeForest returned from maternity leave to her state job, she found it was nearly impossible to fulfill her goal. She said her supervisor first suggested she use the bathroom, then a utility closet, then a shared office space, then a conference room with tinted windows as a pumping site.

"My milk started to have a hard time coming down," she said. "I was always afraid someone was going to walk in."

After a couple weeks her milk ran dry, forcing her to feed Elly formula.

"I felt like a failure when I stopped," DeForest said.

DeForest said she was shocked that the state of Delaware, the largest employer in the first state, couldn't follow the law.

Human resources with the Office of Management said they could not comment on the ongoing "personnel matter."

DeForest wrote an online petition to Markell asking him to declare that all state office buildings have private rooms set aside for mothers to pump breast milk. As of Friday, there were 964 individuals in support of the petition.

The request comes two months after the Delaware legislature passed a bill that would protect pregnant and nursing workers against discrimination. The bill still needs to be signed into law.

Kelly Bachman, spokeswoman for Markell, said the governor's office expects agencies to follow federal fair labor guidelines that afford nursing mothers breaks and privacy accommodations when needed. The office has personally asked OMB to look at the allegations in the petition.

"We are also working with OMB to ensure that nursing mothers are consistently informed of their rights when returning to work and that human resource managers work with supervisors to address accommodation requests," she said.

The National Women's Law Center worked with state legislators to ensure that federal law could be instituted on the state level.

In June, lawmakers passed the provision; Senate Bill 212, sponsored by Sen. Bethany-Hall Long, chair of the Senate Health Committee, stating that pregnant or nursing workers shall be allowed more frequent breaks, periodic rest, assistance, time off to recover from childbirth and appropriate space for pumping breast milk.

"It's unfortunate discrimination still occurs. I think sometimes it's not purposeful discrimination, it's uninformed," Hall-Long said.

There is an "undue hardship" clause that provides an out for businesses if the accommodation would cause significant difficulty or expense to provide.

"It certainly does not guarantee a get out of jail free card for an employer," said Emily Martin, general counsel with the National Women's Law Center, in Washington D.C.

"There might be situations where an employer would say I just don't have the power to provide this."

There are 14 states with specific laws protecting pregnancy discrimination and workplace lactation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Some of those laws, like Colorado's also include the undue hardship clause.

"I think it's not a large loophole. I think the undue hardship law, that will be the exception, not the rule," Martin said.

"I think there are still certainly issues with implementation and enforcement," she added. "There's definitely more work to be done.

Jen Rini can be reached at (302) 324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.

The law in Delaware

In addition to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, Delaware passed its own law in June - but it has yet to be signed.

• Senate Bill 212, sponsored by Sen. Bethany-Hall Long, chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee: Pregnant or nursing workers shall be allowed more frequent breaks, periodic rest, assistance, time off to recover from childbirth and appropriate space for pumping breast milk.