Harmful to Little Boys? ACLU Sues Y Over Breastfeeding in Public

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Hopkinton woman says she was discriminated against when she tried to breastfeed her daughter. The ACLU of RI today is taking her case to court. The civil liberties group filed a lawsuit Friday against the Ocean Community YMCA in Westerly on behalf of Elizabeth Gooding. The suit claims the Y violated her right to breastfeed in public.

“I am speaking out for women who have been shamed, degraded, harassed, or otherwise prevented from nurturing their children by breastfeeding," Gooding said. "Following the extremely upsetting incidents of breastfeeding discrimination at the YMCA, I made a choice that I would take a stand in hopes of enacting effective change in support of one of our most natural civil rights. I encourage women who face breastfeeding discrimination not to be silenced but to raise your voice.”

According to the ACLU, Rhode Island has a law "specifically allowing breastfeeding in public." The Y also may have violated other anti-discrimination statutes, the ACLU said.

Gooding, of Hopkinton, RI, formerly was employed by Ocean Community YMCA. She was also a YMCA member. In February 2015, after YMCA employees told her she could not breastfeed her 1-year-old in the daycare area, Gooding questioned the management.

"After the incident, several YMCA supervisors confirmed that she would not be allowed to breastfeed in public due to 'concerns about young boys,'" the ACLU suit claims. "Then a month later, Gooding again attempted to breastfeed her daughter there, and was again told by staff and supervisors that she could not nurse publicly. She then spoke directly with Maureen Fitzgerald, the Ocean Community YMCA President and CEO, who denied that there was any need to change the center’s public breastfeeding policy, refused to hold a training for employees, and added that Gooding should be 'more discreet.' The complaint further notes that later in 2015, after the above incidents, Gooding was told that she could no longer bring her baby to the mom/baby yoga class that she taught."

Added ACLU volunteer attorney H. Jefferson Melish: “Rhode Island state law specifically protects the right of women who are openly breastfeeding to do so anywhere they are authorized to be. Given this law and the fact that breastfeeding is associated with numerous benefits, it’s disheartening that discrimination against nursing mothers still exists. This suit is proof that people still need to be made aware that, in Rhode Island, public breastfeeding is a legal right.”

A copy of the ACLU’s complaint is available here.

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