NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Federal investigators have launched an probe into how the NYPD treats nursing mothers who are on the force, according to an internal email obtained by The New York Daily News.
"The U.S. Department of Justice, through the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York is conducting a civil investigation into the NYPD's lactation policy," the email read. "DOJ is interested in speaking with individuals who have requested reasonable accommodations pursuant to that policy and who may have additional regarding the NYPD's implementation of that policy."
Officials are reportedly looking to interview officers who have had children over the last 10 years to see if their responses confirm allegations that nursing mothers were forced to express breast milk in dirty locker rooms, bathrooms, or, in some instances, their own cars.
Participation in the interview process is "completely voluntary," and nursing mothers are not obligated to take part in the probe.
The NYPD has cooperated with the investigation, which began last year, by providing the DOJ a list of NYPD employees who have enrolled in the policy since 2012.
According to the New York Daily News, ongoing complaints about nursing officers not having enough space to produce milk were brought to light in 2018 when Queens Officer Simone Teagle claimed her superiors refused to give her the time and clean space she needed to pump, despite NYPD policy and state and federal law. She claims she was transferred after she complained.
Teagle and four other female officers eventually filed discrimination complaints against the department, claiming they were forced to pump in locker rooms, cars or bathrooms.
The officers claimed these conditions caused several of them to develop mastitis, inflammation of the breast tissue, while some were even placed on "punishment posts" for asking for time to pump, even forced to utilize their lunch break to nurse.
In one incident, a male officer at Harlem’s 32nd Precinct dared a male detective to drink the milk a sergeant had just pumped, according to court papers. The dare was allegedly accepted and the cop drank the milk.
NYPD policy says each precinct must provide "a private room or an office for employees to express breast milk" and offer "an employee with the requisite privacy" and not a bathroom.
Attorney Eric Sanders told the outlet that Teagle and the other women are part of a growing number of class-action lawsuits against multiple city and state agencies.
"This firm has filed similar cases against the Fire Department, New York City Department of Education and the New York State Police," Sanders said. "We have been litigating this legal issue since October 9, 2018, to cover the time periods of August 15, 2007 though the present. Throughout this time period, the department disregarded the legal rights of nursing mothers."
"Fortunately, these brave plaintiffs using the federal court are fighting to force the department to follow the law," he continued. "Hopefully, the DOJ decides to intervene and join the legal fight."
Federal officials declined to comment on the investigation when reached Tuesday by the Daily News.
1010 WINS reached out to the NYPD for comment.
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