WATCH ABOVE: A young mother speaks out about a Walmart employee who allegedly made rude comments because she was nursing her son.
MONTREAL – A young mother claims she was discriminated against while breastfeeding at the Walmart store on Decarie on Friday.
Candyce Sousa said she was waiting in line to pay and was feeding her son.
READ MORE: Pointe-Claire nurse-in organized on Facebook for ousted Vaudreuil woman
A Walmart employee in another aisle allegedly began making rude comments related to her nursing in public.
“She said she herself is a mother of two who she breastfed and she would never do such a thing as breastfeed in public and that a baby should be able to wait until you’re no longer in public,” Sousa told Global News.
“She said it loud enough that everyone could hear and clearly I was the only mother that was feeding a child.”
READ MORE: Montreal mom angry over being told to breastfeed elsewhere
The mother told Global News she was taken aback by the treatment she received at the store and asked for the manager to make sure the store will explain to employees that breastfeeding in public is legal.
Walmart’s policy “supports a mother’s right to breastfeed (including nursing directly, or pumping/expressing milk) in a public area including the public areas of our stores or to be provided assistance in finding a private area if she prefers,” Anika Malik, Walmart Canada’s Corporate Affairs Manager, wrote to Global News in an e-mail.
“Our policy also clearly states that under no circumstance should an associate prevent or discourage a customer from breastfeeding in a public area of the store.”
Walmart Canada said it has been in contact with Sousa and has “nothing further to share” on whether it has spoken to the associate.
READ MORE: Public breastfeeding demonstration at Place Montreal Trust
“It shouldn’t necessarily be called out because that is what might make other mothers hesitant to breastfeed at all or breastfeed in public and it isn’t something that anybody should really be ashamed of,” said Sousa.
“My baby was happy and he’s healthy and it’s something that we’d do anywhere.”
This isn’t the first time a new mother has been told to stop breastfeeding.
READ MORE: Vaudreuil mother asked to leave store for breastfeeding
In January last year, Pointe-Claire mothers held a “nurse-in” to support a Vaudreuil mother who was asked to leave a store in Fairview Pointe-Claire.
In October 2013, an NDG woman who was shopping in Place Montreal Trust in the downtown core was also told to take her child to a private room in order to nurse.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
Follow @rachel_lau
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