Mother in Central Indiana Files Wrongful Termination Suit Over Breastfeeding Needs

A working, breastfeeding mother in Central Indiana (Shelby County) claims that she was fired from her job for requesting that her managers designate an appropriate place for her to use to pump her breast milk while at work. Could she have been wrongfully terminated for breastfeeding? Erica Zinn claims that she was fired from seasonal work at Shelbyville’s Rural King. Ms. Zinn’s daughter is 11 months old and refused to drink anything but breast milk. Ms. Zinn claims that she was clear with her employer up front about her needs when she was hired for the job.

Ms. Zinn was told by a manager to use a restroom when she needed to pump her breast milk and she refused. A coworker suggested that she use a fitting room and she assumed that everything was fine. A few days later, Zinn claims that she was again told to use the restroom for her breast milk pumping needs. Her manager fired Zinn that same day. The manager claims she was fired as a result of lack of complete availability, and issues surrounding her needs…basically concluding that she wasn’t a good suit for the job.

Zinn responds to these claims by stating that she was very clear when she applied for work about her availability. In response to reasons the company states for her firing, Zinn can’t help but wonder why she was hired in the first place if there was a problem related to availability that was thoroughly discussed.

A company spokesman for Rural King responded to media requests for responses to Zinn’s allegations by saying that there was no official comment because it is a personnel matter, but also noted that information reported by Zinn might not contain the complete story.  

If you need additional information regarding wrongful termination and what qualifies according to southern California employment law, contact the employment law attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.