Teacher who was breastfeeding is terminated, says she’ll appeal case against Casey County School District
UPDATE — Jessica Childers filed the notice to appeal on Monday.
Liberty, Ky. (WTVQ)– Jessica Childers, a special education teacher, filed a lawsuit against the Casey County School District and is now planning to appeal its dismissal.
“It’s been quite a long road. I was very surprised when Judge Stivers dismissed all of this,” said Childers. “I really couldn’t believe it, because we have a lot of evidence that it was very much against the law.”
Childers said this is the first case of it’s kind in the state of Kentucky.
In October of 2021, Childers had just come back to Jones Park Elementary from maternity leave. She said she made it known she needed two sessions during the day to pump milk. She said she was told no and that they did not pay her to pump.
Eventually, she was told they would allow her two 20 minute sessions, but she had to cut her planning in half. Childers said she let them know she needed the full 30 minutes she had planned for.
She said after that things just started to get worse.
She even said in one incident, not only did she receive calls and email, the principal and janitor unlocked her door and came in during a planned pumping session.
She said she felt they were taking away her privacy.
“I guess as that year went on I couldn’t believe that those things were happening. They were surreal in nature, because they were so over the top.”
She said the stress of everything caused her to produce less milk for her son and she had supplement with a lot of formula.
“It was after they kept walking in on me. So the stress level was really up there. I can’t describe how hard it is to let down when you think someone is going to come in on you. So what they were doing to me had a very real physical impact on my health and on my milk supply.”
Childers was terminated in April 2021 and filed the lawsuit in September that same year.
While doing research, she discovered that other breastfeeding teachers have been wrongfully terminated, under the guise of a bad evaluation, which she says is what happened to her.
“But I just want to tell any nursing teachers your right under the law is you can nurse when you need to for as long as you need to.”
Childers plans to put in the notice of appeal before August 17.
She has set up a GoFundMe incase anyone wants to help.
