The Supreme Court recently declined to overturn a lower court’s ruling on a case involving Nationwide insurance and a breastfeeding mother. The case has made national headlines and been sensationalized by the media for flying in the face of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and it’s been particularly vilified for noting that men are also able to lactate and that the resulting ruling was not sexist on that basis.
Here is what really happened: Angela Ames, a former Nationwide employee, sued her employer after returning from maternity leave. She claimed that the company denied her access to a room to pump breast milk and that she was pressured to resign by her supervisor.
Most of the news articles about the case cover one element of the case; namely, that because lactation is proven to occur in both men and women, Ames couldn’t prove that lactation was a medical condition that affected her ability to perform in the workplace. However, though that reasoning was mentioned in the case, the appellate court’s decision to uphold the verdict tells a different story.
The decision states “Nationwide’s several attempts to accommodate Ames show its intent to maintain and employment relationship with Ames, not force her to quit… the record shows that Nationwide sought to accommodate Ames’s needs… Ames was denied immediate access to a lactation room only because she had not completed the paperwork to gain badge access… Further,
This case, far from being an account of a woman unfairly treated by an employer, is instead about a failure to follow form and procedure. The decision by the appellate court went on to say that Ames “did not give Nationwide a reasonable opportunity to address and ameliorate the conditions that she claims constituted a constructive discharge. The only way in which Ames attempted to alert Nationwide to the problem was by asking [Karla] Neel [her supervisor] twice about obtaining a lactation room and by approaching [Ms.] Hallberg about the same problem, all on the morning that Ames resigned.”
As a member of the American Association for Justice, I think it’s important to set the record straight when misconceptions alter the fundamental reasoning behind a courts decision. In this case, justice was served, but in many others, workers are not treated with the respect they deserve. If you’ve been subjected to unfair workplace practices, please contact us for a free consultation.
