The 3 Minute Activist
Applebee's Says Breastfeeding Is Indecent Exposure and tells Kentucky Mom to cover up while having lunch.

David L. Goebel Applebee's President and Chief Executive Officer Samuel M. Rothschild Applebee's Vice President of Franchise and Beverage Operations Mike Scanlon Thomas & King President and CEO Adam Edelen Thomas & King Director of Communications and Community Affairs Patricia Johnson-Powell, Thomas & King Director Guest and Employee Relations I feel very frustrated at the situation involving Brooke Ryan and Applebee's Restaurants as noted in this article: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/454/story/161993.html. Brooke was in the Nicholasville Road Applebee's in Kentuckty on June 14th, having lunch. She was told by a server and the manager to cover up while she was breastfeeding her baby, because customers complained that she was indecently exposing herself. It is especially upsetting that to hear via groups on the internet that Applebee's is considering having "blankets on hand at all their restaurants" as a result of this incident and that Alex Bressette from Applebee's Corporate office states that the manager's request that Brooke cover-up with a blanket was "reasonable". Applebee's is missing the point. There is nothing shameful, indecent, or obscene about breastfeeding a baby. In fact, Kentucky law explicitly states that breastfeeding is not indecent exposure. http://www.llli.org/Law/Bills20a.html) It is understood some customers or employees of Applebee's may not be comfortable seeing someone nurse in public. However, it is not the nursing mother that should be spoken to in situations like this. The complaining customers should be addressed and informed that the mother is not in violation of Kentucky law. You will find helpful information for handling customer complaints about nursing in public in the "For Businesses" section on ProMoM.org (http://www.promom.org/bf_info/for_businesses.html). Please make an official written and public statement of corporate policy that breastfeeding is allowed in all locations. There should be no conditions to this statement and subjective terms such as "discreet" and "respectful" should not be used. Please reply to let me know what the new official policy on breastfeeding is, and to let me know that all Applebee's locations are complying with their respective state laws (http://llli.org/Law/LawUS.html ), such as Kentucky law which states "breastfeeding is not indecent exposure" and "no person shall interfere with a mother breastfeeding her child" Kentucky SB 106, Acts. No. 180 (2006) SECTION 1, and that all managers have been trained NOT to approach a nursing mother to ask/insist/offer help to her to cover-up/go to a restroom/go outside. Sincerely,
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