Alexis asked about the physical therapist - from what I understand, she
lost because there was not sufficient proof that she was 'fired' - they
just stopped calling her in - so while it was admitted that they violated
the law, and they made it through all the motions to dismiss, she lost at
trial. She had good lawyers, who just didn't see this coming. It can
happen. After practicing law for over 22 years, I have seen that there is
no such thing as 'having your day in court', and that even winning cases
can lose - bad judge, bad day for the judge, other side coming across
better - after all, the legal system is a game and there are always risks
to litigation. Often it is how well you play the game. If someone loses a
trial, usually the worst is just owing costs to the other side. But if
there is a statute that awards prevailing party fees, then it is likely
that the loser will end up paying for the other side's lawyer, even if they
don't owe their lawyer money, and that can be big bucks in a highly
litigated case. Mothers need to know the risks in any litigation, and need
to understand what could happen if they lose. Most especially, the lawyers
have an obligation to consider this with the mother, and help her to
understand the risks ahead of time.
I usually do not encourage mothers to seek relief through litigation, and
most especially if the goal is to help other mothers - unless other
alternatives have been exhausted. For instance, if the company is willing
to admit their mistake, and implement some policies to prevent this from
happening again, then this is a better result. Many mothers have approached
companies and complained about how they were treated, and by being
persistent and educating have come up with a good result, for the mom and
for others. Other mothers have had a lawyer write to the company, and often
this alone is enough to get them to open their eyes and change their
behavior. I don't like to see people just file suit without giving the
company a chance to correct their mistake - bad karma in my opinion - and
while it keeps lawyers happy and busy, it often is not best for the mother
or the breastfeeding community. Fear of litigation is one reason California
had so much trouble enacting its breastfeeding legislation many years ago -
it makes the breastfeeding community look bad to encourage mothers to just
file ASAP for the point of it - and again, it is hard to find lawyers that
are willing to do a bunch of work for free.
Can I assume that this Nevada case was one where the employer stayed
entrenched in their position against breastfeeding even after attempts to
educate?
Elizabeth N. Baldwin Baldwin & Friedman, P.A.
Phone: 954-966-7110 Office: 305-944-9100 x233
Fax: 954-966-9796 Office fax: 305-940-8544
Breastfeeding and the Law: http://www.lalecheleague.org/LawMain.html
Website: http://www.compromisesolutions.com
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
