Vermont Mother Takes On Delta

Emily Gillette was breast feeding her then 22-month-old daughter aboard a Delta-run Freedom Airlines flight October 13th when a flight attendant asked her to cover herself with a blanket. When she refused Gillette, her daughter River and husband Brad were all asked to get off the plane.

Gillette says her window-seat was in the next-to-last row while her husband took the aisle seat. She claims she held her shirt closed with one hand and wasn't exposed.

She claims a flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket. Gillette recalls the flight attendant as saying, "You're offending me."

Gillette says she refused to cover up because she wasn't doing anything wrong. The flight attendant rounded up a ticket agent to ask the Gillette's to leave.

Gillette filed a complaint against both airlines last week with Vermont's Human Rights Commission. She alleges the airlines violated a state law allowing breast feeding "in any place of public accommodation."

And that's not all: Supporters staged a so called "nurse-in" at Burlington International Airport last Wednesday.

Burlington resident Carolyn Beer told USA Today, "I've always nursed my children when I'm on a plane. Their ears hurt with the altitude change, and it's a strange environment for them. The alternative is to let your kid scream."

"No woman should ever be ashamed of breast-feeding," says Gillette. In her complaint Gillette says she wants "both airlines to create policies that protect a woman from being harassed for feeding her child on an airplane."

Delta says it's working with Freedom on an investigation. Spokesmen for the two airlines say they support a mother's right to breast feed on their aircraft, as long as it's done in a discreet way. The airlines have until November 27th to respond to Gillette's complaint.

Advocates say a mother's right to breast feed in public is protected in 43 states.

FMI: www.delta.com,  www.hrc.state.vt.us