A Hagerstown mother is sharing her outrage over the conditions she said she had to put up with in order to pump breastmilk for her baby at work.Simone Byrd said she worked at the Hagerstown Red Lobster for a year and a half. She returned to work six weeks after having her fourth child, Sylvie, but when it came time to pump breastmilk for her baby while at work, she claimed she was given a “horrendous” space. “I had to move about 20 to 30 pounds of supplies to sit down, and I’d have to brush both alive and dead bugs off the seat. And, at that point, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to give her that milk,” Byrd said. Byrd said she was given an unsanitary utility closet, which was the only room with a lock on it. She says the lock was on the outside of the door. Now, she’s calling for more accessibility at work for Maryland mothers. “I just hope that they can understand, if they wouldn’t feed a customer in that room, why am I supposed to feed someone in that room?” Byrd said. Federal law protects a mother’s right to pump milk upon returning to work. The law requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a clean, private space other than a bathroom for employees to express milk for their babies up to one year after each child’s birth. WBAL-TV 11 News reached out to Byrd’s now former employer after she quit her job last week. A representative said: “Red Lobster is proud to support our employees who are mothers providing breast milk to their children, and we are committed to making reasonable accommodations to provide breaks and a suitable area where a mother can express breast milk.” The representative said the company is now looking into Byrd’s claims.
A Hagerstown mother is sharing her outrage over the conditions she said she had to put up with in order to pump breastmilk for her baby at work.
Simone Byrd said she worked at the Hagerstown Red Lobster for a year and a half. She returned to work six weeks after having her fourth child, Sylvie, but when it came time to pump breastmilk for her baby while at work, she claimed she was given a “horrendous” space.
“I had to move about 20 to 30 pounds of supplies to sit down, and I’d have to brush both alive and dead bugs off the seat. And, at that point, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to give her that milk,” Byrd said.
Byrd said she was given an unsanitary utility closet, which was the only room with a lock on it. She says the lock was on the outside of the door. Now, she’s calling for more accessibility at work for Maryland mothers.
“I just hope that they can understand, if they wouldn’t feed a customer in that room, why am I supposed to feed someone in that room?” Byrd said.
Federal law protects a mother’s right to pump milk upon returning to work. The law requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a clean, private space other than a bathroom for employees to express milk for their babies up to one year after each child’s birth.
WBAL-TV 11 News reached out to Byrd’s now former employer after she quit her job last week. A representative said: “Red Lobster is proud to support our employees who are mothers providing breast milk to their children, and we are committed to making reasonable accommodations to provide breaks and a suitable area where a mother can express breast milk.”
The representative said the company is now looking into Byrd’s claims.
