Posted on 11/18/2006 6:22:21 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
Breast-feeding case leads to punishment
Fri Nov 17, 6:25 PM ET
BURLINGTON, Vt. - A commuter airline has disciplined a flight attendant who ordered a passenger off a plane for refusing to cover herself with a blanket while breast-feeding her toddler, the airline said Friday.
Freedom Airlines spokesman Paul Skellon did not specify the discipline in an e-mail announcing the action against the employee who had Emily Gillette, of Santa Fe, N.M., removed from the plane Oct. 13 at Burlington International Airport.
Gillette, 27, said she was breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter in a window seat in the next-to-last row, with no part of her breast showing and her husband between her and the aisle.
The 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 nurse her daughter. Breast-feeding is protected under state law.
The case received broad news coverage this week, days after Gillette filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission. On Wednesday, about 30 parents and their children protested the airline's treatment of Gillette by staging a "nurse-in" at the Burlington airport.
Skellon said that after the flight attendant ordered Gillette off the plane, the captain of the Delta Air Lines flight being operated by Freedom apologized and asked her family to reboard, but they refused.
Gillette, however, said the airline never offered her a chance to get back on board the New York-bound plane. "I would have jumped at the opportunity," she said.
Delta paid for a hotel room and rebooked the family on a different airline the next day.
Jesse Mongeon, center, holds her son Trey, with other protestors
at a 'nurse-in' at Burlington International Airport in
South Burlington, Vt., Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006. About
30 parents and their children sat in front of an
airline counter Wednesday to protest the treatment of a
passenger who said she was kicked off a plane for
breast-feeding her child. Mothers breast-fed their
children and held up signs during the 'nurse-in.' (AP
Photo/Toby Talbot) Email Photo Print Photo
Leni
22 months????????????
That is a little long to be breast feeding.
And I do believe in breast feeding and did it until my daughter was 11 months.
The tyranny of people with a little power continues.
She's lucky that they didn't arrest her under anti-terror laws.
There is a sizeable minority of mothers who feed this way. Some of them belong to the Le Leche League.
"DON'T BE A PERVERT"
lol... That is the message on one of the signs at the "Nurse In." (picture in post #2)
The women must have been reading our comments from the previous threads here on FR.
Only in America. The world wide average is 2, according to the WHO.
22 months! That's the first thing I thought too. The kid should be eating steak and potatoes (or Tofu) by now, not nursing.
At 22 months, the kid should be doing *both.*
I say you should stop breast feeding when the child is old enough to say, "Mom, can you lift up your shirt?"
2? Really? Learn something new everyday.
Interesting. Thanks for posting the article. I didn't know she was sitting in the next-to-last row, with her husband in the aisle seat. That makes a difference, since she wasn't in anyone's "face" so to speak. How would anyone even know? The flight attendant was out of line.
Well, she could have let the kid scream while the plane took off...That's always fun. :)
Anybody know if the flight attendant was male or female?
Anyone with babies who has travelled knows that a breast is the best way to quiet things down, not to mention help those little ears adjust. 22 months? If it works for them, why would someone else care?
Uh-oh, now you've done it. I have the uncontrollable urge to start quoting Fun Facts about Extended Breastfeeding...I'll try to restrain myself, though. ;-)
They were talking about this on the local talk radio show. One woman called in to give the tired declaration that "civilization wouldn't exist without breast milk!" Uhhh, OK. I guess I can now pat myself on the back for owning a penis?
Only because in a lot of countries that WHO includes there is no other food for a baby!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.