Stephanie Hicks was an officer with the Tuscaloosa Police Department before resigning after she said her work environment turned hostile when she returned from maternity leave. A jury agreed in 2016, and an appellate court upheld the decision in 2017.
Federal judges ruled Thursday that a Tuscaloosa police officer's rights as a breastfeeding mother were protected by anti-discrimination laws.
In 2013, former Tuscaloosa Police Officer Stephanie Hicks sued the Tuscaloosa Police Department after she said the department created a hostile work environment, demoted her and essentially forced her to quit.
Last year a federal jury agreed, awarding her $374,000 in damages after finding the department violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
The city appealed, and this week the 11th Circuit Court upheld the jury's verdict. A three-judge panel found "sufficient evidence of discrimination" by the Tuscaloosa PD against Hicks.
The court also affirmed that breastfeeding is a medical condition related to pregnancy that is protected under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/201...n_favor_o.html
In her last performance review before she went on leave, Hicks’ supervisor wrote that she “exceeded expectations.”
Then the baby came. For 12 weeks, Hicks was home with her little boy. The baby’s collar bone broke during delivery and he needed extra-tender care. He had colic and was constantly crying. She was either breastfeeding him or expressing more milk, using an electric pump, pretty much around the clock.
At no point did she back away from her plan to return to work, she said, nor did she intend to stop breastfeeding once she was back on the job.
“That was never the plan,” Hicks, 38, told HuffPost recently. Like many other working mothers, Hicks figured she’d bring her pump to work and take two breaks during her 8 a.m.-4 p.m. shift to express milk. Friends of hers, including at least one in another division of the Tuscaloosa Police Department, had done much the same.
But from the moment she returned to work, nothing went as planned. Hicks said her supervisors treated her differently, refusing to accommodate her need for pumping breaks, among other problems.
“I was blindsided,” Hicks said.
Less than two weeks after she came back, Hicks quit her job. She felt like she had no choice. Her supervisors had essentially given her an ultimatum: Give up breastfeeding or quit the police force.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/b...b0edff971bb8c1
It's strange. She was apparently an exceptional officer, great performance reviews and yet because she had the nerve to get pregnant, she became persona non grata. I'm happy that the Courts found in her favor, but she lost a career that she enjoyed. What's wrong with people?