I was kicked out of the IRS office for breastfeeding

[BreastfeedingMa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I went to the IRS office and they weren't issuing numbers again until 1:30, though I was told I could go ahead and wait, or come back. The lady said it might also be possible the lady helping people could see me before lunch at 1:30. Since it was two hours until then, and I didn't feel like driving all the way home only to turn around and drive back, and there was a chance to be seen earlier, I decided to wait.

My 2-month-old got hungry, so I did what any breastfeeding mama would do and started to feed her. I was sitting there minding my own business, watching my little girl, not talking to anyone, not even my baby, just watching her and smiling since she was looking up at me so sweetly. I was sitting three seats from the corner with no one on either side of me, and no one between me and the corner.

The lady who was helping people today (the only one) told me, LOUDLY and from behind the counter so that it was impossible for anyone there to not hear her, that I can't "do that" there, that "there are other places to do it." Where? Outside? A nasty bathroom?! I asserted that state law protects my right to nurse my baby anywhere, especially a government office. She said there are security cameras and she got a complaint about me "doing that" (she wouldn't even say "nursing), and I again told her it's my right, the laws protect nursing in public. She walked back to the window where she had come from, the one closest to the door, while saying that at 12:30, law or no law, I would not be there, and told the lady she was helping that security had been called on me and they'd be right there. I couldn't risk a confrontation with anyone who could arrest me without someone else there to take my baby. It would be wrongful arrest and I could sue for probably millions, but I wouldn't risk mt baby ending up in foster care while my husband and I fought to get her back. It would be unfair to our baby to be in foster care on formula and away from her parents, for even one night. So I had to leave.

I went right from there to the police department to verify the law, and I am correct. State laws expressly protect the right to breastfeed anywhere a baby is authorized to be, barring private residences. Civil Code 43.3 There aren't even an restrictions on HOW breastfeeding is to be done. I know there's a federal law protecting breastfeeding in government buildings and offices, but don't know the code off the top of my head. I only ever looked up the state code, not expecting to need the federal one.

I was really embarrassed and humiliated by this, and it takes a lot to make me feel this way. I'm also feeling very self-conscious about breastfeeding, which isn't fair to me or my daughter. When I got home, she was hungry, and I actually hesitated for a moment and wondered if I should nurse her or head somewhere more private than my living room, and only she and I were there!! I did go ahead and nurse her on the couch, but felt sick to my stomach about it rather than relaxes. This time with my baby has always been a relaxing, wonderful time, but instead I felt sick this time, and I'm actually ashamed at feeling so strongly about this, like maybe it should be no big deal, but it is.

What I'm not sure of now is my options on how to proceed. I don't want to drop this. It was a GOVERNMENT WORKER at a GOVERNMENT OFFICE, of all people and places!!!

 

[disneykid52]

yes sue the crap out of them,,,but the government has no money being that they are so far in debt its pathetic so I doubt they could pay up if you won.

 

[CdwJava]

Call an attorney that deals with these sort of issues. An attorney should know the applicable federal and state codes and can tell you whether or not this is a case that can result in an award. Most such violations rarely have a significant enough award to make it worth anyone's while to pursue, but you never know.

 

[Isis1]

Contact your local LaLeche League. they would love to hear about this woman.

 

[BreastfeedingMa]

Tomorrow I will be contacting my local LLL. This is sheer bull. If this had been someone else sitting waiting to see someone, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But for an official to chastise me and tell me to go somewhere else to nurse, and to do so loudly, and call security? That went TOO FAR.

What kind of attorney would handle a case like this? Even f I don't get any "worthwhile" payout, if it can result in better training or something, that would be worth something to me. I shared what happened with a mothering group I'm in, and a few women piped up that this sort of thing happening from a person in any position of authority is why they're afraid to nurse outside of a toilet stall.

 

[tranquility]

Civil rights attorney. But, without damages, it is extremely unlikely one would take the case. If the LLL doesn't advise you or tell you where you should go, I think you'll have to drop it.

 

[justalayman]

43.3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a mother may
breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, except the
private home or residence of another, where the mother and the child
are otherwise authorized to be present.

that is a pretty vague statement and without some supporting case law in contrast, I would think there may be certain allowable restrictions able to be placed on the action.

She said I (you) can't "do that" there, that "there are other places to do it."

while you speculated in your post as to what "other places" referred to, you stated nothing that would lead me to believe you actually asked her. Maybe they had a nice little room you could use.

Maybe Carl would know but I was trying to find any possible indecent exposure laws that exempted a nursing mother that would allow the exposure of her breast. While it may be your right to nurse, that does not necessarily mean you can lack discretion while doing it.


as to your over reaction once you got home; it's an over reaction.

Statements such as this:

It would be wrongful arrest and I could sue for probably millions

tend to show a propensity to over exaggeration or simply no sense of reality or, in the worst case, some person looking to win the lawsuit lottery.

and such statement as:

she got a complaint about me "doing that" (she wouldn't even say "nursing),

shows you are overly defensive. Personally, if it were me, I would also have said "you aren't allowed to do that here" and not made a point of saying "you aren't allowed to nurse here". There is nothing inherently evil with using the word "that" rather than being specific with the term "nursing". Obviously you understood what "that" referred to.

 

[proud_parent]

OP might also try the California Women's Law Center:
CWLC - California Women's Law Center - Los Angeles

The CWLC has successfully intervened in a number of similar cases, several of which ended with the agency/company clarifying or revising its policies and improving employee training.

Even if she does not pursue a lawsuit, I don't believe that OP should drop her attempts to educate. If this had happened to me, I would at the very least pen a letter to the head of this particular IRS office, detailing what occurred and citing the laws that protect the right of mothers to nurse in public. Perhaps a persuasively worded letter would ensure that future visitors to this office are treated with greater respect than she herself encountered.

 

[HomeGuru]

B e careful, as the IRS has been known to file a breast milk lien.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Civil rights attorney. But, without damages, it is extremely unlikely one would take the case. If the LLL doesn't advise you or tell you where you should go, I think you'll have to drop it.

In a civil rights case, the successful plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorney fees, which is one reason civil rights cases are popular.

At least one jurisdiction has found a constitutional right to breastfeed:

Our evaluation of plaintiff's claim proceeds in two steps. First, we consider whether her interest in nurturing her child by breastfeeding is entitled in some circumstances to constitutional protection against state infringement. We hold that it is. Dike v. School Bd. of Orange County, Fla. 650 F.2d 783, 785 (C.A.Fla., 1981)

 

[tranquility]

What is the reasonable attorney's fee for a lawsuit with no damages?

Besides, "entitled" is not quite the right word as attorney's fees are not automatic. While the courts don't base the fees on the "value" of the right being violated, there is often litigation over if they are appropriate at all. If that were not the case, *any* civil right violation, no matter how slight would have civil right ambulance chaser attorneys jump all over it to fill out their billable hours. Yet, that's not how it is. Why?

 

[ecmst12]

Find out who that lady's boss is and send in a formal written complaint.