“This is a natural and beautiful thing and it’s also a human right.A Toronto country club has apologized to Alexandra Shimo, a woman who says she was escorted into its basement when breastfeeding her baby in a hallway there. We’re tired as women being made to feel ashamed of our bodies,” she said. Shimo added that the notion breastfeeding needs to be covered up is outdated. So, if they continue to ignore this event and this issue, then yes, I probably will file a complaint with the human rights tribunal.” “They haven’t responded to that, or what’s happening on social media. “What I’ve asked is that the golf club apologizes to me and give sensitivity training to their staff,” she said. The women claim they have been urged by supporters to file a complaint with the human rights tribunal against the club but Shimo said she’d rather an apology. “Regardless, this is a country club that is known for its Mother’s Day brunch, so the fact they’re discriminating against mothers who are trying to feed their babies isn’t good for business and is unethical.” “There’s been a lot of discussion online about given that this is a private space that was open to a public event – what the law actually is,” she said. Shimo said that at the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter.
#ALEXANDRA SHIMO CODE#
Some of the discussion online pertained to whether the code applies to the club, as it is a private space that was open to a public event. A website belonging to the Ontario Human Rights Commission indicates that no one can “ask you to ‘cover up’ or require you move to a more “discreet” area while breastfeeding. Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sex, including pregnancy and breastfeeding. The club’s Facebook page has also been flooded with dozens of one-star reviews. I’ll be sure to never come here,” Cara Elizabeth said in a Facebook comment.Ī manager at the golf club told a CTV Toronto reporter that the establishment is “well aware” of the situation but haven’t released an official response.
I’m going to start golfing next week at another club that treats people with respect and dignity. “Any establishment that sends nursing mothers to the basement isn’t one I consider worth going to. “What was done to a breastfeeding mother at this establishment is completely disgusting not to mention illegal,” Jackie Leventhal said in a comment posted to the Lambton Golf & C.C.
The post similarly prompted swift backlash from parents and patrons of the golf club on their Facebook page, Lambton Golf and C.C.īy Sunday afternoon, the page was teeming with comments from people condemning the club’s actions. “I think we’ve really tapped into that idea that we’re not going to go quietly into the basement anymore, this is our right to breastfeed.” “We had messages from people in Denmark, from the UK, from the United States and all across Canada,” she said. She said the whole thing quickly “exploded” online. That’s when Grimanis took a photo of Shimo breastfeeding and posted the photo and the incident to Facebook.
“The way it was handled, I was slightly embarrassed because he made me feel like it was a shameful thing by sort of covering me up and saying people didn’t want to see it.”Įventually, Grimanis went looking for Shimo and found her and baby Jacob seated on a couch on the lower level of the club. “I took Jacob off the breast and covered up and he led me downstairs to the basement,” she said. Shimo, who had been sitting on a chair in the corner of a hallway, was told she was still visible to patrons in a members-only dining area. “Then the restaurant manager came out and said a few people had complained because they ‘didn’t want to see this while they were eating,’ because we were in the sight of the restaurant.” “I’d been happily feeding Jacob and a couple people came up and said how sweet he was and I thought that it was really quite idyllic,” she told CTV Toronto. When she realized Jacob was hungry, Shimo said she walked over to a corner in the club’s hallway – located outside of the dining area – to nurse him.Īs she sat in a chair near the service entrance, a male service manager approached her with a large tablecloth. A Toronto mother claims she was escorted to the basement of a golf club after patrons complained about her breastfeeding at a charity event over the weekend.Īlexandra Shimo said she and her partner Lia Grimanis attended an event held at the Lambton Golf and Country Club in York on Saturday night along with their two-and-a-half month old baby, Jacob.
0 kommentar(er)
