Company Failed to Provide Reasonable Accommodations for Breastfeeding Employee 

TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) today announced that DCR has issued a Finding of Probable Cause against Starbucks Coffee Company (Starbucks) for violating the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by failing to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee to express milk at work.

The Finding of Probable Cause announced today arose from a verified complaint filed with DCR by a barista at a Sicklerville, New Jersey, Starbucks location. DCR found that the evidence supported a reasonable ground of suspicion that Starbucks violated the LAD by not providing her with an adequate space with privacy for pumping breastmilk and not otherwise engaging in a good-faith interactive process with her to find a suitable accommodation after she sought to return to work following parental leave.

“Our civil rights laws provide some of the country’s strongest workplace protections for breastfeeding and lactating employees. These protections are essential because no working parent should ever have to choose between working their shift and feeding their child,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Violating the law in this context is illegal, and it too often has the deeply damaging effect of pushing new mothers out of the workforce. The enforcement action announced today underscores our ongoing commitment to protecting working parents from discrimination and puts employers on notice: if you violate our laws, we will hold you accountable.”

“New Jersey’s powerful civil rights laws offer protections to workers who need to express milk during the workday,” said Yolanda N. Melville, Director of the Division on Civil Rights. “We’re committed to fighting for the rights of postpartum employees who need accommodations to return to work while maintaining their milk supply so that they are not forced by their employer to endure unacceptable conditions in order to feed their baby.”

In the Finding of Probable Cause announced today, DCR found that the complainant had made a request to the store manager for a private place for her to be able to pump breastmilk during her work shift. Instead of offering a private location, the store manager purchased a trifold privacy screen with cloth walls, placing it in a busy back room next to sinks, products, and storage accessible to other employees. The barista stated that she had difficulty expressing milk in the location due to the lack of privacy and her fear that the screen would fall over, as co-workers would occasionally bump into the screen while performing their work duties, causing the screen to move from side to side.

When the barista raised concerns about the lack of privacy, the store manager provided her with two choices: either use the provided trifold screen or seek to extend her leave of absence. Because Starbucks did not provide a private space where she felt comfortable pumping and would not engage with her to determine other suitable options, the barista took unpaid leave for almost two more months than she intended.

Based on its investigation, DCR found a reasonable ground of suspicion that Starbucks violated the LAD by failing to reasonably accommodate the complainant barista by denying her a suitable private location to express breastmilk, especially when there were other viable options providing more privacy. DCR also found a reasonable ground of suspicion that Starbucks violated the LAD by failing to engage in an interactive process with the barista to identify a range of suitable and reasonable accommodations.

The LAD, as amended by the New Jersey Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, requires every covered New Jersey employer to grant reasonable accommodations to employees for pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or lactation, unless doing so would constitute an undue hardship on the employer. The LAD explicitly states that employers are required to provide to a lactating employee, at a minimum, the following reasonable accommodations:

1.   reasonable break time each day to express milk; and

2.   a suitable room or other location with privacy, other than a toilet stall, in close proximity to the work area for the employee to express milk.

The LAD also requires employers to make a good faith effort to engage in an interactive process, or a cooperative dialogue, with an employee seeking an accommodation to determine how to reasonably accommodate the employee’s pregnancy, childbirth, or lactation needs. In other words, the employer must work with the employee to determine whether there is an alternative reasonable accommodation that would meet the employee’s goals and concerns without posing an undue hardship to the employer’s business operations.

The issuance of a Finding of Probable Cause shows that DCR has concluded its preliminary investigation and determined sufficient evidence exists to support a reasonable suspicion the LAD has been violated. A Finding of Probable Cause is not a final adjudication on the merits of a case. Once DCR issues a Finding of Probable Cause, the case will go to conciliation, where the parties will have the opportunity to negotiate a voluntary resolution. If no voluntary resolution is reached, DCR will appoint a Deputy Attorney General to prosecute the case either in the Office of Administrative Law or in Court.

This enforcement action is the latest step Attorney General Platkin and DCR have taken to combat gender and pregnancy-related discrimination. DCR has created a number of resources to inform the public of their right to be free from gender and pregnancy discrimination under New Jersey law. DCR has published guidance for the public on workplace accommodations for pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding, and lactating workers. DCR has also published factsheets on Workplace Accommodations for Breastfeeding and Lactation, available on DCR’s website.

***

The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights enforces the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the New Jersey Family Leave Act, and the Fair Chance in Housing Act, and works to prevent, eliminate, and remedy discrimination and bias-based harassment in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation throughout New Jersey.

To find out more information or to file a complaint, go to www.njcivilrights.gov.