Target calls cops on nursing mother

[kpete]

Source: Salon

Target calls cops on nursing mother
Security guards at a Michigan store tell a woman that feeding her baby in public is illegal

While Mary Martinez was shopping in a Target store in Harper Woods, Mich., recently, her 4-week-old baby got hungry. And because some people still haven't gotten it through their heads that women often use their own breasts to feed hungry babies, a security guard who saw her doing just that told her she had to leave because she was breaking the law. Which she was not. Target mistake No. 1.

When Martinez and her husband, Jose -- a police officer who knew full well his wife wasn't doing anything illegal -- refused to leave, the security guard called the cops. Target mistake No. 2. Although the local officers who arrived confirmed that it is not against the law to breast-feed in public in Harper Woods, Mary Martinez says she felt humiliated and forced out of the store anyway. "Two security guards, the manager or team leader, two officers, they just made a spectacle and a scene. I feel like I can't go to that specific Target anymore."

Now, Target mistakes 1 and 2 can be written off as the poor judgment of individual employees, but 3 is the real eye-popper: When contacted by Detroit's Fox affiliate, Target's corporate headquarters said that breast-feeding is allowed in their stores, but "This specific situation escalated to a point where we were concerned for the safety of our guests, so law enforcement was called." Are you kidding me? How on earth does feeding a baby "escalate" to a safety issue for other customers? Target's corporate spokesperson does understand that when you give a quote to a media outlet, other people will end up hearing it, right? And also that words mean things?

Read more: http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/index.html?story=/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/12/07/target_breastfeeding

[saltpoint]

1. A woman is nursing an infant in aisle 7.

Run for your lives, everyone.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

7. A NURSING BABY AND MOTHER IS A TRULY BEAUTIFUL THING

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. The more breasts I get to see the better things are.

[saltpoint]

13. -- a g r e e d --

[SemperEadem]

18. I had a great set when I nursed my daughter.

if it didn't require pregnancy...

[heliarc]

30. It doesn't require pregnancy...

Adoptive parents can breast feed. True Story.

[shadowknows69]

43. This reply useless without pictures.

:evilgrin:

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[951-Riverside]

63. I love watching women nurse

[happygoluckytoyou]

34. TARGET OFFICERS AFRAID MOM WAS GOING TO GIVE HIM A BUST IN THE MOUTH!!!!

[happygoluckytoyou]

35. TARGET OFFICERS ARREST 4 MEN FOR WALKING ABREAST!!!!

[happygoluckytoyou]

36. KILLER BREASTS SEEN TO TRAVEL IN PAIRS

[L0oniX]

75. The milk has gone bad.

[Hawkeye-X]

2. Mary Martinez should file a fat lawsuit against Target

or at least have the rent-a-wannabe-cops fired for cause.

Hawkeye-X

[panader0]

3. Target makes Wal-Mart look good.

Same shit, costs more.

[crim son]

10. It's funny you should say that because Target has always

given me the super-creeps, way worse than walmart.

[laughingliberal]

31. Funny, I feel the same way about them nt

[Occulus]

32. It's the color scheme, I think

I always end up thinking it must be close to Valentine's Day when I go into a Target.

[Iowa]

39. I can never find what I'm looking for at Target. A massive amount of space with very little in it.

[EFerrari]

4. A Mount St. Helens of teh stupid.

[sasquatch]

5. Wow, Joe Rogan's character from observe and report is realer than you think

[amyrose2712]

46. I think that would be Seth Rogan. nt

[sasquatch]

47. Oops

:blush:

[wisteria]

6. Well, this won't stop me from shopping at Target.

And, I have to wonder if the woman did this discreetly. It may be something very natural, but it does make many people uncomfortable to see. And, just for the record, I was at one time a breast feeding mother.

[LeftyMom]

8. Those people are complete morons.

And they deserve a squirt of milk in the eye if they stare.

[pennylane100]

17. if breast feeding makes people uncomfortable

then they should not look. Or we could take the radical muslim approach and put women in burkas so they never offend anyone.

[demosincebirth]

21. I was at the Oakland Zoo, on a sunny day, a couple of years ago

I came across a lady of about forty, sitting on a bench nursing (one on each breast) a pair of twin boys of about three or older. They seemed to be enjoying it. What made me to a double-take was the fact that she was nursing both at the same time. People were just walking by minding their own business. No big deal.

[Bette Noir]

26. Bay area.

I nursed my baby in San Francisco 30 years ago, and nobody minded.

[pennylane100]

41. well it is probably easier that way.

but I think three is a l[ttle old for breast feeding.

[demosincebirth]

50. I said about three, I was really being conservative. Maybe thats why I did a double-take.

[pnwmom]

24. If people are uncomfortable, that's their problem. They don't have to look at

whatever is there to see.

The law is the law and Target broke it.

[nodehopper]

29. your personal comfort level is irrelevant to whether it is legal or not.

It is. Target is in the wrong.

[rebecca_herman]

40. Unfortunately in this case that is not entirely correct

While many states legally protect the right of a woman to breastfeed in public Michigan does not. The only law in that state on public breastfeeding is that it does not break public nudity laws. However the store is not required to accomodate her. Here is a list of laws by state if you are curious: http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabId=14389

While it was a poor decision from a public relations POV they did not break the laws of that state.

[HuckleB]

68. They may not have broken the law, but neither did she.

Further, apparently the security guard told her she was breaking the law, which was false.

[boppers]

9. /facepalm

[flyarm]

11. seems every christmas time there comes a weird story about Target

then after Christmas the story gets revoked or corrected.

Me thinks this story is fishy........Target has Preg women parking in my area and has a large baby dept...something smells not quite kosher with this story..just saying.......

look up the past few years of stories about Target that were bogus.

[jberryhill]

15. The clue to "the rest of the story"... her husband is a cop...

Security guard hassles wife of cop.

What do you think happens next?

[Alcibiades]

19. A pissing contest

One the cop would ordinarily win. He should have called the cops on the security guard.

[SoapBox]

22. Yelling!

...I would say first, security needs to be terminated. Then a training in legal stuff for the whole store, especially any level of management.

However, I'll bet that it was a BIG 'ol UGLY scene, with lots of drama and yelling. Did the cop husband get "pushy" with any "do you know WHO I am?"

That might explain the position of the company and their "safety/security of customers" position.

OR...was the couple very calm whilst the rent-a-cops and store flunkies being the ones that flipped out?

Lots of questions that I'm sure we will never know the answers to...

P.S...I love Target and have for many, MANY years received excellent "service"...Keeping in mind that many employees are just kids and are getting paid, well, not much. The stores are generally well kept, stocked, clean and prices overall can't be beat (unless you want to drive all over town to save $.49!)

[shadowknows69]

44. Security guard is shown what a fuckin tool they are.

[jberryhill]

48. Right.... Because babies need a lot of macho posturing

[No Elephants]

33. I agree. At a minimum, we have only one side of the story. From Fox News.

I am kind of shocked to see that one side of a story seems like more than enough for so many here.

We don't know how or why the woman nursing came to the attention of the security guard. (Aren't they typically at the entrances to the store, watching that no one leaves with unpaid merchandise?) We don't know what he said or how she and her cop husband reacted. And we don't know if FOX ginned up this entire story.

Target gives millions every month to charity--5% of gross, I believe. And, I don't know if anything has changed, but a few years ago, Target was on the list of stores for Democrats wanting to "Shop Blue." (I'd never entered the store until I saw it on that list.) And, it is Wal-Mart's most direct competitor. Those things alone would put it on Fox's hit list.

I'd give Target the benefit of the doubt over Faux News and people who may or may not have created a disturbance in the store, least until all the facts are known from a reliable source.

[paulsby]

42. one side of the story is ALWAYS enough for people here

when it fits preconceived metanarrative.

in this case, you have a big corporation... CHECK
and authority figures - quasi-cops ... CHECK
victimizing a woman... CHECK

of course it's going to be taken at face value.

[etherealtruth]

67. Target's response seems ....

... to be apologetic and regretful.

They claim they are re-orienting their staff to their policy of family orientation and their policy toward breast feeding mothers (which is to provide an environment where mothers may feed their babies w/out harassment or scrutiny).

[HuckleB]

69. Link to this regretful, apologetic response?

[etherealtruth]

71. see #65 below

[HuckleB]

73. That's not a public response.

The public response was anything but that, as noted in the Salon piece.

[etherealtruth]

74. I don't think I claimed it was a public response ...?????

[Skip Intro]

38. +1 - but boy, the DU outrage brigade maneuvers are fun to watch, eh? nt

[struggle4progress]

14. eek! breasts! and babies! we're under attack! circle the wagons! call for reinforcements! help!

[SemperEadem]

16. after this summer with people acting like asses towards those

they didn't want to understand, is it really surprising something like this happens?

She should not have been asked to leave for nursing her baby. Dude needs to serious consequences applied on that one.

[pinniped]

20. Being a cop and feeling superior to the security dudes, he probably....

told them they were shit.

[pnwmom]

25. And he would have been correct. nt

[intheflow]

66. And him being Latino, they probably didn't believe he was a cop. n/t

[Hulk]

23. Tactless, perhaps. Offensive....turn your GD head!!

It's not like hanging a BA at someone. For Christ's sake! Are we really going to get this weird. I'm not comfortable seeing women drag out their breasts in public and nurse their little ones, but I can always turn my head. If done with a bit of tact, you can nurse without being obvious. Does this HAVE TO BE an issue today??

People are so small sometimes!

[HuckleB]

70. Hardly tactless.

[BrightKnight]

27. Harassing a nursing mother and baby should be a crime.

Properly feeding a baby is an essential human right.

[truthisfreedom]

28. Attention Target owners:

1] Nationwide public apology for this, please.

2] Nationwide installation of nursing areas, please. Won't need more than two seats.

[TexasObserver]

37. Recommend

[shadowknows69]

45. Meanwhile the electronics section is probably playing movies non-stop

Of movies with death and destruction. One areola shown though and civilization will crumble.

[jberryhill]

49. Husband cop should have used a tazer on the guard, the manager, etc /nt

[SoCalDem]

51. Another one? Are nursing Moms heading for Target, to "make a statement"?

There was one last week too..

Moms used to shop around their baby's schedule..and rarely needed to feed a baby at Kmart or Target....

[goldcanyonaz]

53. I see nothing offensive in seeing a mother nurse their child.

I've yet to see a mother nursing a baby with her boobies hanging out.

[Thickasabrick]

54. I was just wondering about this schedule thing. Don't babies eat

on a schedule?

[SoCalDem]

55. I nursed mine, and never had to nurse them away from home

I fed them just before we left, and then again when we got home.. and I had two of them 12 months & 10 days apart..

[Thickasabrick]

57. That makes sense and seems like it would be better for babies. nt

[goldcanyonaz]

56. Sometimes a mother has to go shopping on her schedule, not the babies.

Emergencies arise, babysitters cancel, etc.

I see nothing wrong with a mother nursing her child.

It's not like she's shaking her boobs around and people are tossing dollar bills at her.

[Thickasabrick]

58. Oh - I don't see anything wrong with it at all. I think it's totally a

personal thing - I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it in public.

[goldcanyonaz]

59. I don't know if I would either but I would try to do it as privately as posible.

[goldcanyonaz]

52. Wow, in Harper Woods, that's surprising.

I guess instead of lowering the crime rate they rather go after the safer bet, a mother nursing.

What a joke.

[yawnmaster]

61. I think a lawsuit against target would be tit for tat. eom

[woo me with science]

62. I don't know. That might be milking the situation. nt

[MadMaddie]

64. This is just another indicator of what a sexually surpressed

society we live in. It's always the people that are screaming the loudest about pro-family this and that yet they do things like this.

I hope the woman and her husband sue!

[etherealtruth]

65. In response to my emailed concerns

This actually seems to be an acceptable response to me.

Dear ET,

As a family-oriented retailer, Target has a long-standing practice that supports
breastfeeding in our stores.

Target has a long-standing corporate policy that supports breastfeeding in our
stores. Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome
to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable. Additionally, we support the
use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if
others are waiting to use the fitting rooms.

We regret that the situation escalated and have apologized to the guest for her
experience. To ensure nursing mothers feel welcome in our stores we are
reinforcing our breastfeeding policy with our team in all 1,744 stores across
the country.

At Target, we work hard to provide you with an enjoyable shopping experience. If
you ever have concerns during your visit, please visit the Guest Service Desk
and ask to speak to the Guest Service Team Leader. They'll make every attempt to
resolve the issue while you're in the store.

We appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you.

Sincerely,

Kate
Target Guest Relations
www.target.com
[phone]

[Withywindle]

72. FUCK, I hate huge big-box chain stores.

Half an hour in, I start wishing I had a tit to nurse on, and I'm 40!

[Sparkly]

76. "we were concerned for the safety of our guests"

:rofl:

I know some people are nervous around breasts, but jeeeeez!!