A Minnesota mom who waskicked out of local swimming pool for breastfeedingon Wednesday plans to file discrimination charges.
Stephanie Buchanan was wading in a kiddie pool with her 3-month-old son Roman at the Mora Aquatic Center in Mora, Minn. when he started to get fussy.
“A patron came up, a lady, at the pool, and told me that I needed to cover up because her sons were swimming,” Buchanan said.
A staff member then allegedly came up to them and said they could eithercover up while breastfeedingor go to the locker room to nurse. Buchanan said she could not leave the pool area because she was watching her other children.
“The reason I didn’t get out of the pool to breastfeed is my kids,” Davis said. “I’ve got to watch my kids.”
Minnesota state law allows women to breastfeed“in any location, public or private,” and “irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother’s breast is uncovered.”
PEOPLE has contacted Mora Aquatic Center for comment.
Staff at the pool called the police, which pushed Buchanan and Davis to leave.
They now plan to file discrimination charges against the city of Mora — which runs the aquatic center — and the county. They alsoorganized a nurse-inwith several dozen moms outside the pool on Saturday.
Davis said she hopes that the pool, and the city, learns from this experience.
“We just don’t want any other mom to feel that she needs to cover up,” she said.
source: people.com
