What do you think of this e-mail from totes?

[blisstwins]

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the recent Ohio Supreme
Court ruling. We have received a number of inquiries since the ruling
and I want to respond to your e-mail and hope to alleviate some of your
concerns.

As a company whose workforce is 70 percent female, we are very much
aware of the needs of working mothers and their families. We have and
will continue to provide nursing mothers with the appropriate time,
flexibility, and facilities to meet their individual needs.

We would like you to know that this situation was never about breast
feeding or breast pumping – both of which we fully support – rather,
this was a situation involving an employee who was hired with the
knowledge she needed time at work to pump for her child, with
arrangements coordinated with her to do so. When she chose on her own
to change those arrangements over an extended period of time, her
temporary assignment at our facility was ended.

With regard to our policies covering nursing mothers, we have more than
800 employees in 110 locations, each with individual needs. Because of
this, we do not have blanket, one-size-fits all policies regarding
nursing mothers. Instead, we choose to work with each mother on an
individual basis. Thus far, our employees tell us this approach is
working well.

We are constantly reviewing our employment policies and practices and
evolving our approach to remain responsive to the needs of our
employees. Just like our health benefits and other practices, our
support for working parents and nursing mothers has changed over time,
and will continue to evolve going forward.

Again, thank you for your note and expressing your views on this issue.
I hope this information has been helpful.

Sincerely,

Vickie Fightmaster
Human Resources Manager
totes»ISOTONER

[Kitten007]

Barf.........that's all I can say.....no excuse whatsoever. They should have given her a warning and helped her.

[Reyadawnbringer]

I agree. Most any other job would have given a verbal and/or written warning and then moved on to the firing stage if warnings had not remedied the situation.

I also remember reading in the court deposition I think that the employee had asked for an extension on her first morning break to allow her to have time to pump. The superiors stated that they would have to check and get back with her, and supposedly when they called her back to give her the answer it was simply "We will no longer be needing your services."

To me that says that she did everything possible to do what she could without remaining in physical pain and the company was completely unwilling to accomodate her. Let's remember that it was clearly stated that she told them UPFRONT when she was hired that she was a nursing mother and would need adequate time to pump her breasts.

On a side note I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that she was a "temp worker". I know that temp workers generally do not have the same rights and access to company benefits since usually they don't technically work for said company, but usually a temp agency. Even so, for a company that claims to be so progressive and family friendly they sure didn't act like it in this case.

[Clarity]

but there's nothing in my inbox yet. And, yes, it didn't veer far from their original statement posted on their website. I still won't be doing business with them - most especially because their bad decision is now a bad judicial precedent!

[AbbysMom]

Totally random but - what kind of name is Vickie Fightmaster? Yikes.

[cicada]

Totally random but - what kind of name is Vickie Fightmaster? Yikes.

lol! that's too funny.

[MamaMolly]

I get the vibe that they are trying subtly to say that their craptastic decision is all the employee's fault. Tacky.

[kijip]

It's lame. Really lame.

[kristenk]

I definitely agree that totes was way out of line based on the information that is currently circulating. I just keep thinking that there's more to the story on the employer's side, though. I could be wrong about that, but it seems like such a giant, foreseeable nightmare that they would have done something to avoid the situation.

I'm not planning to run out and buy umbrellas and slippers from isotoner/totes right now, or anything, but I wonder if more info will come to the surface.

[codex57]

I'm 99.9% positive it's cuz she's a temp worker. It's sorta like being on probation. You give the company any reason to fire you, they will. Zero tolerance.

This e-mail further reinforces my opinion that that's what the issue was, but I thought this at the time of that other thread.

[gatorsmom]

I get the vibe that they are trying subtly to say that their craptastic decision is all the employee's fault. Tacky.




LOL. It wasn't subtle AT ALL. They are outright saying this temporary employee screwed up so they decided not to continue her services. Of course you know that Vicky Fightmaster probably hates having to write those letters but has no choice. She's just trying to make upper management happy. I used to be an HR Manager. Looks like the same type of vague, politely defensive letters I had to write. not fun.