Mom scores $255K settlement after being fired for demanding private place to pump
All Tabetha Tyndale wanted was a private place to pump breast milk for her 10-month old son at her job as a nurse at the Extended Managed Long term care, a Staten Island home health care company. Instead Tyndale, 30, was let go just because of the simple request. On Sept 5, Tyndale reached an agreement with her previous employee for an estimated $255,000 pay out and the victory is heard by breast feeding mothers all over America.
All Tabetha Tyndale wanted was a private place to pump breast milk for her 10-month old son at her job as a nurse at the Extended Managed Long term care, a Staten Island home health care company. Instead Tyndale, 30, was let go just because of the simple request. On Sept 5, Tyndale reached an agreement with her previous employee for an estimated $255,000 pay out and the victory is heard by breast feeding mothers all over America.
All Tabetha Tyndale wanted was a private place to pump breast milk for her 10-month old son at her job as a nurse at the Extended Managed Long term care, a Staten Island home health care company. Instead Tyndale, 30, was let go just because of the simple request. On Sept 5, Tyndale reached an agreement with her previous employee for an estimated $255,000 pay out and the victory is heard by breast feeding mothers all over America.
President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on March 30, 2010. Among many provisions, Section 4207 of the law amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 (29 U.S. Code 207), entitled the federal Break Time for Nursing Mothers law requiring the nations’ employers covered by the FLSA to provide basic accommodations for breastfeeding mothers at work. These accommodations include time for women to express milk AND a private space that is not a bathroom each time they need to pump, outside of preying eyes and uncomfortable stares from fellow employees.
Tyndale was forced to pump at her desk which was in full view of her peers and associates as well as and clients. “I think it was just becoming too much for them,” Tyndale told the NY Post of her bosses’ decision to fire her. Without prior warning, Extended Managed Long term care released Tyndale and she has experience nothing but mental anguish and embarrassment ever since. Alleging unlawful employment practices and a violation of her civil rights, Tyndale worked with a Brooklyn attorney Eric Sanders and the case was brought before federal Judge Robert Levy who awarded the victory. The lawsuit states that ‘she was working out of the company’s Staten Island satellite office, where, she was forced to express milk at her desk or in an open cubicle or in the bathroom.’
READ MORE: OPINION: Black mothers need to wield the enormous power of breastfeeding their babies
This victory is a victory all of the mothers who ask for private spaces to pump, their right provided by federal law.
This victory is a victory all of the mothers who ask for private spaces to pump.
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