Mom Shamed At Victoria's Secret For Breastfeeding...
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Farah Soomro, mom of two was told to quit breastfeeding at a Victoria's Secret at the Summerlin Downtown Mall in Las Vegas, because it was making the other guests uncomfortable. The law states that a woman is allowed to breastfeed in public wherever she is otherwise authorized to be, Farah, luckily is aware of that law which is why she did not comply willingly with the employees request.
Farah, was doing some back to school shopping with her younger siblings who were so excited about entering a Victoria's Secret along with her younger daughter and 4 month old son. As they were shopping her son Myles was ready to eat so she pulled down half her shirt and latched him on to feed him. Right then an employee started walking towards her and she is thinking she was going to be told that they were being too loud or that her daughter cannot touch the merchandise, but to her surprise the employee said,
"Ma’am do you mind doing that outside the store? You are making couple of our guests uncomfortable, its inappropriate."
All Farah could respond with was, "Excuse me?" She was perplexed.
The employee then advised her to use the bathroom.
"My jaw hit the floor, I had heard stories of women being told to feed their babies in bathroom, but now I was living it. I refused of course," Farah said.
This happened right in front of her younger siblings she had with her who are 12 & 14 she did not want to leave without some sort of apology she did not want her siblings thinking this sort of treatment is okay. She was humiliated at that point as she was getting stares and glares from every corner of the store. She demanded to speak with the manager, but it only seemed as if the manager said whatever she needed to say and gave a halfhearted apology, to shut Farah up and get her to leave. The manager did not even ask which employee it was that requested her to stop breastfeeding.
Farah does not feel like they rectified the situation at all. Not only did the employee discriminate against her for breastfeeding, but she insulted her by telling her that it was inappropriate and shamed her in front of the whole store and her family. This kind of horrible treatment happens to breastfeeding moms every single day and it is not okay.
Farah, has reached out to corporate, but has not received a call back yet. She will update me as the story unfolds.
This is not the first time an employee at Victoria's Secret has shamed a mom for breastfeeding. Back in January 2014 a Texas Mom was told by a Victoria's Secret employee that she was not allowed to nurse in their store. It seems as though Victoria's Secret employees need a lesson on the laws that protect public breastfeeding. You can read more on that story - (Here)
A Nurse In is being planned and scheduled to happen, August 15, 2015 at 5 P.M. Location is at the Victoria's Secret on Festival Plaza. Click (HERE) To join the nurse In event on Facebook.
*UPDATE* Victoria's Secret made contact with Farah here are the details of the conversation..
After Farah's story started getting spread around Facebook thanks to everyone for sharing and commenting, she finally received a call from a Victoria's Secret representative by the name of Ginger, who was the same lady who dealt with the mom from Texas who was also asked to leave because she was breastfeeding.
In short Farah was offered a $250 gift card to Victoria's Secret and was told to go back and that she was sure she would have a better experience. Farah's response, "I have no use for the gift card since I will personally not shop there. There isn't anything I can buy, Victoria's Secret do not carry breastfeeding bras."
The Victoria's Secret representative said they were in the process of testing out nursing bras. I cannot confirm or deny if that is true or not. Farah then suggested that they do a training/educational seminar for the employees and she would like to attend and that was dismissed. It seemed as though the representative just wanted to push the gift card on her to move it along. All Farah wants is assurance that this will not happen to another breastfeeding mom and for the discrimination by their employees be taken seriously. It seems as though it is a common occurrence happening at Victoria's Secret.
Ginger, The Victoria's Secret rep agreed that Farah was not treated fairly, but kept insisting that she return to shop. At this point Farah just wants justice for ALL breastfeeding moms and feels like nothing got accomplished, but more so a band aid on an issue that needs to be addressed. Farah invites anyone in the Las Vegas area to attend the Nurse In on August 15th at 5 P.M. and hopefully they will rectify the situation properly.
Petition asking for Victoria's Secret to add nursing bras to their stores was started after the last incident a breastfeeding mom faced. If you would like to sign it you can find it (HERE) ..
