I am a nursing mother and need to express my breast milk. My manager told me to use one of the back rooms, which has no doors, and is open t...

Question

I am a nursing mother and need to express my breast milk. My manager told me to use one of the back rooms, which has no doors, and is open to the public. She told me to turn off the lights. I was uncomfortable doing so, but needed to pump somewhere. A customer walked in on me today, and when I told my manager, she laughed and told me to use the bathroom. We recieved a company wide memo last year, stating that the Nursing Mother Amendment to the Fair Labor Standards requires the employer to provide 'a resonable break time for employees, who are nursing mothers, to express breast milk each time the employee needs to do so. The place cannot be a bathroom, and must be shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.'

What should I do?

Answer

If you can't obtain satisfactory resolution by discussing this with HR or upper management, then you can hire an attorney to help do so, or to bring appropriate legal action. If serious about doing either, feel free to contact me. Your rights can and should be protected. Don't let this one manager ignore that.