Woman Denied Lactation Room and Fired Is Not Getting Trial
女人要求泌乳室遭拒并被公司开除，却不能立案
"I think it's best you go home and be with your babies" is not what an employee expects to hear upon returning to work after maternity leave. Unfortunately, it is exactly what Angela Ames heard when she requested access to a lactation room to express breast milk. Ms. Ames filed to sue for sexual discrimination, but has been denied access to a trial. The details will make any reasonable person's head spin.
在产假结束后，刚回公司工作的女性员工并不想听到“我认为你还是回家和宝宝在一起吧”这样的话。然而不幸的是，当Angela Ames要求公司提供泌乳室的时候，她却听到了这样的话。Ames女士起草好了文件起诉公司“性别歧视”，但却未能获得立案批准。每个通情达理的人听到具体细节都会感到头晕。
Angela Ames was first hired by Nationwide Insurance in October of 2008 as a loss mitigation specialist. She gave birth to her first child in May of 2009 and took eight weeks of maternity leave. She discovered she was pregnant again in October of 2009. Unfortunately, there were complications with the pregnancy, and Ame's doctor ordered bed rest in April of 2010. She was treated in a harassing manner by her direct supervisor, who rolled her eyes and said she never had to take bed rest during her own pregnancies.
Angela Ames最初在2008年10月被全美互惠保险公司录用为降低损失专家。她在2009年5月生了第一个孩子病休产假8周。2009年10月她发现自己又怀孕了。不幸的是，她出现了孕期并发症，医生在2010年4月建议她卧床休息。直接主管对她的态度很差，而且主管还瞪着眼睛说自己在怀孕期间从未卧床休息过。
Ames gave birth to her second child prematurely in May of 2010. Nationwide had already trained a temporary replacement to take over Ame's job while she was on maternity leave. Still, managers called her to discuss "mistakes" they made calculating her leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Ames was told that she could take the originally agreed upon amount of time unpaid, but doing so would raise "red flags." Not only does "red flag" sound like a threat, but they already had a trained, temporary replacement doing Ames' job.
2010年5月，Angela Ames的第二个孩子出生了。在她休产假期间，公司培养了一名实习生来接替Ames的工作。尽管如此，经理还是在电话中根据《家庭和医疗休假法案》与她讨论他们所犯的“错误”。公司询问Ames是否能接受当时同意的无薪产假，但是这样做就会引发问题。“红旗”不仅听起来像是一种威胁，而且他们已经有一名经过培训的实习生来做Ames的工作了。
Ames returned to work in July of 2010, about one month earlier than she had originally planned. Before she returned, she had a conversation with a manager asking where she could express milk, and was told a lactation room.
2010年7月，Ames回到了公司，这比当初计划的休假时间提前了一个月。在回公司之前，Ames与经理讨论了泌乳的地方，经理告诉她公司有泌乳室。
No Lactation Room
没有泌乳室
However, upon returning to work, Ames' asked her supervisor where the lactation room was, and was told it wasn't the supervisor's responsibility to provide one. She was sent to see the company nurse. The nurse wanted Ames to fill out paperwork to use a lactation room that would take three days to process. At this time, Ames' breast were already engorged and painful -- she needed to express milk. This was the first she heard of paperwork that would take three days to process. The nurse told her she could use a "wellness room," but that it was unsanitary and could taint the milk.
然而，Ames一回到公司就问主管泌乳室的位置，主管却说提供泌乳室并不是自己的职责。她去拜访了公司的保育员。保育员让她填一份使用泌乳室的表格，但是申请过程却需要三天。在那时，Ames的乳房应经开始胀痛了——她需要泌乳。这是她第一次听说一份申请文件需要三天审查。保育员建议她使用“保健室”，但是那里并不卫生，而且还会污染乳汁。
This is about the time her manager starts getting on her case. Regardless of the fact that they trained a temporary replacement, somehow none of Ames' work had been done in her absence. She had two weeks to catch up or face discipline. At this point Ames' was in tears and still begging for a place to lactate. That is when she heard the famous line, "I think it's best you go home and be with your babies," and was handed a pen and paper to write her letter of resignation.
差不多是时候她的经理开始着手处理Ames的案子了。尽管公司培养了一名临时工替代Ames， 但是在Ames的休假期间，Ames的工作一样也没有完成。Ames在这时只有两个选择， 要么赶上工作进度， 要么接受惩罚。 Ames在这种情况下，只能是泪流满面， 但还是请求安排泌乳室。 就在那时，Ames听到了最不近人情的话语“我认为你最好还是回家和宝宝在一起吧”，然后经理就递给Ames一支笔让她写辞职信。
She is being denied a trial by a federal appeals panel made up solely of men, who have, of course, never experienced engorged, painful breasts. Their rationale? They think a "reasonable person" would not have felt discriminated against and harassed in Ms. Ames' position. Think Progress has quoted Ms. Ames' lawyer as saying that not being allowed to pump with not being allowed to use the restroom. It's brilliant, and a must-read. Still, in this country a "reasonable person" should be just that: a person. Not just a man; women are people, too.
她的案子被上诉委员会否决了， 而委员会仅仅由男人组成， 这些男人当然没有乳房胀痛的遭遇。 他们否决的理由是什么呢？他们认为一位“通情达理的人”遇到Ames女士这样的情况的时候是不会感到受歧视和受困扰的。Think Progress引用了Ames律师的一句话“被拒绝泌乳是因为被拒绝使用休息室。”这是很明智的陈述， 而且是最基本的条件。 而且， 在这个国家，一位“通情达理的人”，应当这样判定： 是一个人。 不仅仅是男人。 女人也是人。
I guess Nationwide isn't really on your side -- if you need to pump breastmilk at work.
我想不一定全国的人都支持你——如果你在工作的时候需要泌乳。
Tell Us What You Think
告诉我们你的看法
Have you expressed breast mild at work? What was your experience like?
你在工作中遇到过乳房轻度胀痛吗？你的经历是怎样的？
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