Marshalls Sorry That Mom Had To Breastfeed In Bathroom Instead Of Dressing Room

The mom says Marshalls refused to let her nurse in a dressing room, and instead directed her to a bathroom.

The mom says Marshalls refused to let her nurse in a dressing room, and instead directed her to a bathroom.

While Oregon law explicitly states that “A woman may breast-feed her child in a public place,” the staff at a Portland Marshalls store are apparently not well-versed in local laws or their employer’s own policies.

Over the weekend, a mom named Karina posted a photo on Facebook of her nursing her baby in a bathroom stall.

“Yes, this is me sitting on a toilet feeding my sweet,” she writes, “after I was denied my right to breastfeed where I wanted to by a [Marshalls] employee.”

Karina says she wasn’t even trying to — gasp, shock — breastfeed out in the open, but had asked if she could use a dressing room, presumably where she’d have privacy and folks who are easily offended by the site of a bared breast would not have to turn their eyes from seeing one being used for its most basic biological function.

Rather than let her use the dressing room or point out some less-trafficked part of the store, Katrina says she was directed to a bathroom stall.

“What a way to treat breastfeeding customers,” she writes, “shaming them for breastfeeding, making them feel embarrassed that you need to feed your child.”

In response, a rep for Marshalls tells KATU-TV that the retailer’s existing breastfeeding policy “instructs associates to allow customers to breastfeed as they choose within stores.”

Marshalls says its has “looked into this matter and regret that it may not have been followed in this instance. We have asked the customer involved to reach out to us directly so we may resolve the matter and apologize for any inconvenience.”

As always, we point you to this handy reference list from the National Conference of State Legislatures with links to each state’s relevant laws on nursing in public (Hint: It’s allowed).

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