Posted on 11/15/2006 6:38:55 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
Nursing mom says plane kicked her off
Wed Nov 15, 1:22 PM ET
BURLINGTON, Vt. - A woman who claims she was kicked off an airplane because she was breast-feeding her baby has filed a complaint against two airlines, her attorney said.
Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., filed the complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission late last week against Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines, said her attorney, Elizabeth Boepple. Freedom was operating the Delta flight between Burlington and New York City.
Gillette said she was discreetly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter on Oct. 13 as their flight prepared to leave Burlington International Airport. She said she was seated by the window in the next-to-last row, her husband was seated between her and the aisle and no part of her breast was showing.
A flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up, Gillette said. She declined, telling the flight attendant she had a legal right to breast-feed her baby.
Moments later, a Delta ticket agent approached and said the flight attendant had asked that the family be removed from the flight, Gillette said. She said she didn't want to make a scene and complied.
"It embarrassed me. That was my first reaction, which is a weird reaction for doing something so good for a child," Gillette said Monday.
A Freedom spokesman said Gillette was asked to leave the flight after she declined the blanket.
"A breast-feeding mother is perfectly acceptable on an aircraft, providing she is feeding the child in a discreet way," that doesn't bother others, said Paul Skellon, spokesman for Phoenix-based Freedom. "She was asked to use a blanket just to provide a little more discretion, she was given a blanket, and she refused to use it, and that's all I know."
A complaint against two airlines was filed with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, although Executive Director Robert Appel said he was barred by state law from confirming the complaint. He said state law allows a mother to breast-feed in public.
The Vermont Human Rights Commission investigates complaints and determines whether discrimination may have occurred. The parties to a complaint are given six months to reach a settlement. If none is reached, the commission then decides whether to go to court. A complainant can file a separate suit in state court at any time.
And I don't know how Vermont laws would cover this. Assuming she was flying to her home in New Mexico, she would have crossed over a dozen states with a dozen different breast feeding laws.
In other words, she picked a fight with the flight attendant before takeoff. What a dumb thing to do.
And I have nursed babies on airplanes, resulting in total indifference from all present except the relevant baby.
Women who defiantly nurse in public are whackos, plain and simple.
Kid's almost 2; give her a cookie!
I admit to a visceral bias against people who name their child "River." It shows poor judgment that probably carries over into other areas.
The wheels of the aircraft were on the ground in Vermont at the time of the blanket incident.
It's easy to nurse babies in public with no one having any idea what you're doing.
I don't know about you, but I prefer to see 'em bared for fun, rather than functionality.
Lucky kid! Milk does a body good, after all!
let's see, a Burlington, Vermont flight to New York City would take how long? And the nursing baby was a walking, talking, 2 months shy of being two year old, toddler. I bet Mom feeds this kid regular people food, juice and water out of sippy cups, and all manner of snack treats when it suits her.
Sounds to me as if this woman was just dying to create this kind of controversy.
The woman in this story comes across as a bully. I'm glad they stood up to her, River and all! ;-)
Great comment!! Completely agree. LOL
And I would sue the pants off the airline.
The primary function of a woman's breats is the nuturing of her child. And society needs to get over it's problem with this. The flight was delayed, the child got hungry and the airline has the gall to kick the mother off? For feeding her child. Because the flight attended had a problem with it.
Anyone who has nursed knows that by 22 months (which still is a reasonable age to nurse, most doctors encourage it through 24 months minimum) a child is not going to remain covered with a blanket and the ensuing fights with the child are going to be more distracting than the actual act of nursing. The mother knew what would be the most discreet, her husband was sheilding her, she was sitting in the window seat in the second to last row.
This is discrimination pure and simple. The baby's head would have been covering significantly more that most low cut shirts or halter tops. But no one would ask those women to cover up. It's outrageous, and some one needs to find out what the heck this flight attendant's problem is.
I realize they were in Burlington at the time.
But do you think that flyers would be subject a dozen different breast feeding laws on a coast to coast flight?
This seems like something for the FEDERAL courts to decide.
You embarassed yourself, mommy. Hit the bricks.
Flying makes everyone grouchy these days. I'd suggest that everyone's wrong here, except the toddler, who can't help herself much.
My husband gave our oldest daughter tomato juice on an airplane once. I suspect everyone on the flight wished she had been breastfeeding!
"Women who defiantly nurse in public are whackos, plain and simple"
People who try to prevent the natural care and nurturing of children are whackos, plain and simple.
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