HARRISBURG Pa. Nearly 2,000 people, including mothers breastfeeding their babies, gathered outside 97 Applebee’s restaurants in 44 states on Saturday to protest the chain's policy on breastfeeding within its dining rooms, according to Birth Without Boundaries International, the advocacy group that organized the action.
The group told various media outlets that it wants the casual-dining giant to adopt a “friendlier” breastfeeding policy.
The action took place after an August incident at an Applebee’s in Lexington, Ky., where a manager allegedly told nursing mother Brooke Ryan to cover herself and her baby with a blanket because another guest complained.
Ryan showed the manager a copy of the Kentucky state law, which gives nursing mothers the right to breastfeed in public places, according to a report on the Birth Without Boundaries website. She and her family left the restaurant. Her lawyer later sent two letters to the restaurant’s franchise owner, who wrote back saying he was considering keeping blankets in the restaurants for use by breastfeeding mothers.
Concept parent Applebee’s International Inc. issued a statement Aug. 31 that said in part, “We ask that mothers who nurse their children in our restaurants do so in a respectful manner. Our goal as restaurant operators is to provide a great dining experience for all our guests.”
Birth Without Boundaries, based here, organized the protest primarily over the Internet.
“It’s time to have the right to breastfeed recognized as one of our basic civil rights,” Salem Hamilton, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement.
Incidents similar to the one at Applebee’s have been the subject of disputes elsewhere. In June, a woman in Boca Raton, Fla., filed a lawsuit against Houston’s parent Hillstone Restaurant Group because the manager of a local unit asked her to leave the restaurant while she was breastfeeding her infant son. Florida is among nearly 40 states that have laws protecting breastfeeding mothers.
In the Houston’s case, Hillstone officials say the manager mishandled the situation and that the woman, Simone Bertucci, was issued an apology and was refunded the cost of her family’s meal.
Other incidents include a woman nursing her baby inside Johnny’s Barbecue in Cullman, Ala., who alleged earlier this year that an employee threw a dirty towel over the baby’s head to cover it up. According to a report in The Cullman Times, the restaurant’s owner, Gary Wiggins, said an employee offered the woman two clean towels from the kitchen and asked her to cover herself after complaints from other patrons.
