Tiger's breastfeeding bungle

[Hvr]

A MELBOURNE mother says she was left in tears after a Tiger Airways flight attendant repeatedly asked her to hide her breastfeeding baby from other passengers on a flight earlier this month.

<snip>

Mrs Ward said she told the attendant that she had a right to breastfeed, but was asked again to cover her baby because a man seated near her ''might not like to see it''.


''I said to [the man], 'Does this offend you?' and he said, 'No, not at all.' [The flight attendant] said, 'Well, people walking down the aisle might not like it.' ''


The mother of two said she felt embarrassed and humiliated after the incident.

Methinks there will be a confidential settlement reached and maybe a newly unemployed FA. Liability rests with the employee in these type of cases and the FA may be liable for the whole amount if TT can show that they have trained their staff appropriately.

A spokeswoman for Tiger Airways said the airline had reviewed the incident and planned to apologise to Mrs Ward for the error. The flight attendant had been disciplined and informed of a new policy as a result of the complaint. ''All relevant staff will undergo training immediately to ensure this situation does not occur again.''

But then again maybe in this case it will be TT liable given this para.

 

[Anna]

Liability rests with the employee in these type of cases and the FA may be liable for the whole amount if TT can show that they have trained their staff appropriately.

What are you basing this statement on?

 

[lovestotravel]

Pay peanuts, get monkeys with the equivalent IQ levels

 

[Danger]

I certainly don't want to get into an argument or start a war but I personally don't think it's inappropriate to ask a person to show some discretion. Perhaps it's similar to toddlers running around naked at the beach; yes it's natural but some people (and let me add I'm not one of them, in either of these situations) might be uncomfortable. At least on a beach you can move to a different area, not so on a plane.

 

[UP4014]

I think it's ok to ask once, but if there are no complaints what's the problem. By pushing the issue a problem is created, in this case it back fired on the crew member because of an inability to use some judgement over the situation.

 

[dajop]

I ; yes it's natural but some people (and let me add I'm not one of them, in either of these situations) might be uncomfortable. .

Yes, at a hotel recently in Vietnam, there was a guy who made a staff member climb up and cover up the statue by the pool, as it had exposed breasts (hope the same guy never visits a museum in Europe then ....).

But I guess the same people that would not want to see the mother breastfeeding would also complain about the baby if it started wailing because it was hungry .....

 

[dragonman]

I certainly don't want to get into an argument or start a war but I personally don't think it's inappropriate to ask a person to show some discretion .

Personally I am amazed you feel that way. Its a mother feeding her kid. Its natural and IMHO requires no "discretion".

 

[Danger]

Personally I am amazed you feel that way. Its a mother feeding her kid. Its natural and IMHO requires no "discretion".

Thanks for politely disagreeing. It seems that on some other threads disagreeing can become quite nasty. We'll politely agree to disagree.

 

[Dave Noble]

I think that it is perfectly natural for the person to feed the baby but there are lots of perfectly natural things that one wouldnt try any do without a level of discretion.

for example could cover the infant feeding as some mothers do do

Unless there is a legal right to do so in Australia ( no idea if there is), I would not see why there would be liability to either the airline or employee compensation wise

Dave

 

[Homer]

Unless there is a legal right to do so in Australia ( no idea if there is), I would not see why there would be liability to either the airline or employee compensation wise

In addition to federal anti-discrimination laws which may cover breastfeeding under the gambit of sex discrimination, it is specifically covered by some state legislation. In the case of Queensland (where the flight originated) the state anti-discrimination laws specifically protect an individual's right to breastfeed. In the case of Victoria (where the flight was going) there is legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of parenthood.

(Source: Marge, who is a card carrying member of the Australian Breastfeeding Association...something I like to call "the other ABA" )

 

[markis10]

Personally I am amazed you feel that way. Its a mother feeding her kid. Its natural and IMHO requires no "discretion".

+1

We dont ask people to cover themselves as they down a drink in the pub for crying out loud, and sometimes the baby will be hiding more of the mom than what is covered by normal clothes!


Most people would also be aware that feeding should be encouraged to help the baby equalise the pressure in their ear canals, if they are not used to be covered they may not drink!

 

[Alanslegal]

I know the act of breastfeeding is perfectly normal and I am perfectly fine with that but what I am uncomfortable with is when some mothers don't do it discreetly enough, just bare it all and I get to see breasts! [And unless their surnames end with Hawkins, Gale or Kerr .... I'd prefer not to see any bare breasts in public thank you very much! ]

I know they know its acceptable but a bit of courtesy will go very very very far. It's like when I need to use my mobile in the QP, I do not go shouting during my conversations but do so quietly not to disturb others.

 

[Chimpy]

We dont ask people to cover themselves as they down a drink in the pub for crying out loud,

I am sorry if I have this wrong, but in my local pub people do have to remain covered as they down a drink, both men and women (no shirt no service).
Just my two cents worth.

 

[markis10]

I am sorry if I have this wrong, but in my local pub people do have to remain covered as they down a drink, both men and women (no shirt no service).
Just my two cents worth.

We dont ask people to cover what they are drinking from though, I dont think the baby was topless , regardless its just an example of what I think is silly logic, as I said in the post, often the baby will be covering more of mums breast than what a piece of clothing might cover and I think it is up to the mum to assess what level of modesty is applied.

 

[Chimpy]

I don't like sitting next to someone with a baby full stop, but this is just me. My wife loves it, takes all kinds.

 

[Moody]

I am sorry if I have this wrong, but in my local pub people do have to remain covered as they down a drink, both men and women (no shirt no service).
Just my two cents worth.

So I assume you drink your beer with a sack over your head so as not to offend the teetotallers?

I thought the breast-feeding issue was done and dusted, but it seems that it was merely hibernating in a corner of the AFF.

 

[anat0l]

What next? Are we going to bring the issue of changing nappies into play?

 

[straitman]

What next? Are we going to bring the issue of changing nappies into play?

It would be appropriate to start a new thread for that one:!:

 

[Commuter]

I know the act of breastfeeding is perfectly normal and I am perfectly fine with that but what I am uncomfortable with is when some mothers don't do it discreetly enough, just bare it all and I get to see breasts! [And unless their surnames end with Hawkins, Gale or Kerr .... I'd prefer not to see any bare breasts in public thank you very much! ]

I know they know its acceptable but a bit of courtesy will go very very very far. It's like when I need to use my mobile in the QP, I do not go shouting during my conversations but do so quietly not to disturb others.

I agree with that. Besides, even if one is Hawkins, Gale or Kerr, it's not very nice to be cause some men around oneself a potentially 'physically embarrassing state' when it can easily be avoided by being discreet.

I think 'rights' and 'discretion and consideration' do not have to conflict with each other. I don't see any need to flop it all out.

I also think it could be a bit of a generation thing - some older people may feel a little offended at seeing bare breasts if they were very conservative. For instance, my mother may raise an eyebrow if she saw people do this in public.

Why risk causing an offence when it's not necessary?

 

[oz_mark]

I think 'rights' and 'discretion and consideration' do not have to conflict with each other. I don't see any need to flop it all out.

There is not the slightest shred of evidence in the story that the person in question had 'flopped it all out'. In fact, the request, as stated in the story was to 'cover the baby'.

The story also does not seem to indicate that a single passenger was offended in any way.