Why is McDonald’s being sued by two former employees?
Two former McDonald’s employees are suing the fast food giant for not providing enough time nor adequate spaces for lactating mothers as required by law.
Two former McDonald’s employees have filed a class action suit against the fast food chain in a federal Illinois court, claiming that the restaurant did not give them reasonable time nor adequate spaces to pump their breast milk during work hours, in violation of federal law.
The PUMP Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2022, requires certain employers to provide enough break time and a private, non-bathroom space for nursing mothers to extract milk during their work day.
READ ALSO: What is the PUMP Act?
Why is McDonald’s being sued by two former employees?
According to TMZ, the women allege that their managers at McDonald’s reassured them that there would be no issue if they needed to pump milk at work. However, they say this was not the case when they returned to work after giving birth.
The plaintiffs- one from Kansas and the other from New York- claimed that they were forced to express their milk in unhygienic areas such as stock rooms without any privacy, and that they were also not given enough time to finish the task.
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Employees say they have suffered emotionally due to absence of adequate spaces
The former employees also say that the lack of an appropriate lactation area in the restaurants has caused them anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.
The lawsuit against McDonald’s comes on the heels of a similar case filed against Wendy’s in a US District Court in Ohio earlier this month.
The filing states that nursing employees had no choice but to express milk in dirty bathrooms, stock rooms, or their own cars after the restaurant failed to provide the appropriate facilities.