Lawsuit settled after co-workers 'mooed' at nursing mother

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Thursday, December 11, 2014
Breast pump
A woman holds a breast milk pump in this stock photo
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LAKE OSWEGO, OR -- A woman in Oregon has settled a lawsuit against co-workers who "mooed" at her when she would pump breast milk at work, People reports.

When Monica Van De Pitte was hired at Velocitel, Inc. in Lake Oswego, Oregon, the nursing mother was told she could use the company's supply room as a private space to pump milk. But Van De Pitte says she went to use the room during her shift, other staff members would moo at her. Her lawsuit also accused a co-worker of pretending to honk the breasts of other female colleagues in the office.

Van De Pitte says she went to management about the harassment and claims they told her to "privately reflect on why sexual conversations made her uncomfortable," according to legal papers obtained by People.

Van De Pitte then filed a sexual harassment complaint against the company in 2013 and resigned after her managers notified her co-workers about the harassment complaint.

A settlement was recently reached, but the details have not been made public.