Teacher Fired For Pumping Breast Milk At Work

After five years of teaching technology at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen in Colorado, teacher Heather Burgbacher will not be returning to the classroom. Instead, with the help of the ACLU, she is filing a discrimination lawsuit against the school, 9news.com reports. She claims her contract with the school was not renewed because she pumped her breasts for milk during the work day. According to Fox31, "A 2008 Colorado law says employers have to make reasonable accommodations to working mothers who want to pump breast milk." And when Burgbacher approached the school director to let him know she would need time to pump for breast milk, "He was receptive to the idea," she told 9news. The teacher found someone to fill her shoes for 20 minutes three days a week while she pumped. But after a few months, that person decided not to do it anymore. The human resources director then recommended she supplement her child's breast milk with formula, according to 9news. "It's not an employer's place to dictate how I nourish my child," Burgbacher said. Now the public school district is claiming that "The teacher's separation from the school had nothing to do with the issue" -- a new statement that Burgbacher's lawyers are doubting. It could take months before the suit goes to court, but if it does, it will be the first time it has happened in Colorado.