Firing woman for taking unauthorized breaks to pump breast milk OK, Ohio top court rules

[ccharles000]

A Cincinnati-area company didn't discriminate against a new mother when it fired her for taking unauthorized breaks to pump milk from her breasts, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled this morning.

Totes/Isotoner, an outerwear manufacturer in West Chester, did not violate Ohio's pregnancy-discrimination law by firing general laborer LaNisa Allen for taking lactation breaks four hours into her shift.

Allen argued that her breasts ached five hours into her shift, when she was allowed a lunch break.

The court, however, said Totes/Isotoner was within its rights to fire Allen for "failure to follow directions."

Justice Paul E. Pfeifer dissented, and Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger said the Supreme Court should not have taken the case.

In an unsigned opinion, the court said Allen's status as a lactating mother isn't relevant to the dispute.

"In this case, the evidence in the record demonstrates that Allen took unauthorized breaks from her workstation, and Isotoner discharged her for doing so," the court wrote.

"Thus, the record as it was developed in the trial court fails to provide a basis from which a jury could conclude that Isotoner's articulated legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for Allen's termination -- failure to follow directions - was a pretext for discrimination based on Allen's pregnancy or a condition related to her pregnancy."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/08/27/abreast.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101