LOCAL 1929

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FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLIC RELEASE

U.S. Border Patrol Discriminates Against Working Mothers

[El Paso, Texas] ---- On December 5, 2001, in a victory for working mothers and families, an Administrative Judge of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s San Antonio District Office agreed with Local 1929 of the National Border Patrol Council, the Union representing Border Patrol Agents in west Texas and the entire State of New Mexico that the Border Patrol’s actions against a female Border Patrol Agent were “blatantly discriminatory”.

The female Complainant in this case, a nursing mother who had recently returned to the Ysleta, Texas Border Patrol Station after giving birth to her child, was denied the opportunity to express her breast milk during her breaks and lunch periods while at work. The female Complainant was forced by Border Patrol management, including the El Paso Sector’s Chief Patrol Agent, Mr. Luis E. Barker, to use her own vacation time, sick days, leave without pay and/or to adjust her work schedule to account for the time she spent expressing her breast milk.

The Administrative Judge determined that the evidence presented demonstrated that the Complainant, as a nursing mother, was a person whose status was related to pregnancy and childbirth and, thus, protected under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The Administrative Judge also found that the evidence presented demonstrated that the Border Patrol’s asserted reason(s) for its supervisors’ actions against the female Complainant were a non-legitimate pretext for illegal discrimination.

As a result of the Border Patrol’s discriminating and harassing actions, including management’s close monitoring of the female Complainant’s lactation activities, the Complainant tried to use as little time as possible to express her breast milk. This accelerated the female Complainant’s use of her breast pump machine, causing physical injury and a considerable amount of pain and discomfort. In the end, the female Complainant was essentially forced by Border Patrol supervisors to make a choice between continuing to breast feed her child and her job as a Border Patrol Agent. The Administrative Judge ordered the Border Patrol to pay the female Complainant $10,000.00 in compensatory damages for her intangible loss.

Any further information, including a sanitized copy of the EEOC’s decision, may be obtained by contacting Mr. Stack, President of Local 1929 at (505) 312-3081.