Breast-feeding Complaint Settled

A human rights complaint involving an Amherst woman and a Halifax store owner has been settled.

In the complaint, Elizabeth Smith alleged that Jan Bird, the owner of Chintzy's, a Halifax fabric shop, had asked her to refrain from breast-feeding her infant son in the store in April 1998. A formal complaint was signed in October 1998.

As part of the settlement, women can breast-feed in the public area of Chintzy's when they are shopping at the store. As well, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission will develop policy on breast-feeding in public and the workplace.

In Nova Scotia, it is illegal to discriminate because a woman is or was pregnant, because she may become pregnant or because she has a baby. Under the Human Rights Act, women are protected from discrimination and harassment because of sex, which includes pregnancy, and family status, which means being in a parent-child relationship. This includes a woman's right to breast-feed.

"Women should be able to participate fully in society while they are breast-feeding," said Mayann Francis, executive director of the Human Rights Commission. "Women should be aware that they have a right to breast-feed without repercussions."

The Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in a number of areas, including the delivery of services in stores and other public places.