Recently I heard of yet another mother being harassed in a restaurant for breastfeeding. This time it's in Kentucky, and it's a major chain - Applebee's.
I have not spoken with Brooke Ryan directly, and I will not post her email without her permission. However, Kentucky.com is featuring Ms. Ryan's story, which you can read here.
Here are the facts - Kentucky passed a law in 2006 which protects a mother's right to breastfeed her baby. Applebee's violated this law.
But that's not bad enough, apparently. Mike Scanlon is the president of Thomas & King, which operates the Applebee's restaurants in central Kentucky, and here's what he had to say about the incident:
"It is perfectly legal to breast-feed in public and we support that," Scanlon said. "I'm not sure the manager said cover the baby's head, I think he said cover yourself modestly. This was by no means intended as interference, but a request to do it modestly, which I believe is an appropriate response."
Ok, I don't love that response - but WAIT! It gets better!
Scanlon suggested that Ryan had an "agenda."
"I note with interest that she had a copy of the statute with her," he said.
An agenda?!?
Last year in Kansas, the state's Department of Health and Environment handed out 40,000 laminated cards which explained the recently passed breastfeeding law. Does Mr. Scanlan think these women have an agenda as well? Is it an agenda if you want to simply be left alone so you can feed your baby?
The sad fact is that many nursing mothers do carry a copy of their state law with them, and this incident at Applebee's is a perfect illustration of why they do so.
Mr. Scanlan should be ashamed of himself.
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3 comments:
That "agenda" thing jumped right out at me, too!
I suppose that the entire family had an agenda when they went to the restaurant: to eat.
Tanya
Tell me about it, Tanya! This company seems to have read the "how not to respond" manual!
I have nursed all three of my children in public and if a child does not want to nurse they won't nurse. I am still trying to figure out how that would be an "agenda".
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