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.
A young woman with an infant in the seat next to me told me that she would be breast feeding her infant during ascent/descent to keep his ears clear. I said, "I'm jealous. All I've got is chewing gum." She was very discrete and I kept my nose in my own business.
Thank you. I am sick of people criminalizing mothers doing the right thing by their children.
LOL! She must have really ruffled some feathers.
The PRIMARY function? You lost me right there.
What does 'natural' have to do with it? Is everything 'natural' de facto good and lovely?
What a pig. Breasts are for feeding children first and foremost.
Love your tagline!
I've been nursing babies steadily for the last ten years, and I've never had a hostile comment or situation. Maybe I've just been lucky ... but on the other hand, I get the idea that some women seek out confrontational situations. (Like, women who name their child "River.")
If not then what is the primary function?
All excretions are equal im my ideal world.
That is not clear. What is clear is that she refused the offer of a blanket to cover up to the satisfaction of the airline.
In the second to last row next to a window, I'd like to know who it is that would be able to observe this egregiously offensive behavior.
I think the flight attendant and the airline messed up. They offered, she refused and that should have been it. If no stink was made the flight would have proceeded and no one would likely have been the wiser.
Why is common sense so uncommon?
Plenty of creeps aboard tonight. I can't believe these people can't stand the sight of a child feeding.
Those statements are not in conflict. She was not denied the right, and the attendant attempted to be accomodating.
To make our days more enjoyable?
In what way? How is your enjoyment more important than feeding a baby?
You've met children?
They also help in their creation, and thank you for the compliment there, ray.
22 Months!!!!! My opinion, and it's only my opinion, 2 years of age is a little old for breast feeding.
Absolutely. My wife nursed all three of ours wherever we went and few even noticed it going on. She put a blanket over her shoulder and the operation went on underneath the blanket. Every now and then someone (usually a woman) would catch on, smile and return to their own business.
The woman in this article was going out of her way to provoke her fellow passengers, and getting off on it.
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