Advance Auto Parts class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Kara Haynes filed a class action lawsuit against Advance Auto Parts Incorporated.
- Why: Advance Auto Parts allegedly fails to provide proper accommodations for nursing employees in violation of federal law.
- Where: The Advance Auto Parts employees lawsuit was filed in North Carolina federal court.
Advance Auto Parts Inc. fails to provide proper accommodations to nursing employees in violation of federal law, a class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Kara Haynes says she is an employee at an Advance Auto Parts store in Cleveland, Georgia. After giving birth in April 2023, she claims she requested a private space to pump milk but her employer refused to provide one for her.
“She was forced to go to the bathroom and don a wearable pump so she could pump while she worked,” the Advance Auto Parts class action lawsuit says.
Because she was not provided with a private space or reasonable breaks to pump milk, Haynes says she experienced a reduction in her milk supply. She also says the experience caused her to suffer anxiety, humiliation and emotional distress.
“It has long been known that breastfeeding is crucial for a newborn baby and has numerous benefits for the mother and the child,” according to the Advance Auto Parts class action lawsuit.
“Breast milk is an organic superfood that provides the essential nutrients and antibodies required for a baby’s healthy growth and development.”
Failure to provide accommodations for nursing mothers can have negative impacts on their health, Haynes says. They may experience painful engorgement which may lead to infection, or they may produce less milk for their babies.
Mothers without sufficient time or space to express milk may also experience anxiety, stress and guilt, the Advance Auto Parts employees lawsuit says.
Advance Auto Parts employees must be granted breastfeeding accommodations under FLSA and PUMP Act, plaintiff says
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide accommodations for nursing mothers, and Congress increased protections for employees when it passed the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act).
The PUMP act allows employees to pursue legal action against employers who violate the FLSA by failing to provide adequate accommodations for employees to express milk.
Even though the FLSA has required proper accommodations for nursing mothers for decades, Advance Auto Parts has failed to comply with the breastfeeding requirements by providing appropriate break times and space to privately express breast milk, Haynes says.
Instead, nursing employees must pump breast milk “in unsanitary stock rooms, bathrooms or their private vehicles” due to Advance Auto Parts’ failure to provide proper accommodations, the Advance Auto Parts class action lawsuit alleges.
Hayes filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and other Advance Auto Parts employees who were not provided proper accommodations for breastfeeding as required by the FLSA and the PUMP Act.
In 2017, Advance Auto Parts settled a class action lawsuit with employees who were affected by a data breach.
What do you think about the Advance Auto Parts class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!
Haynes is represented by Dana Smith, Lisa R. Considine and Oren Faircloth of Siri & Glimstad LLP.
The Advance Auto Parts employees class action lawsuit is Kara Haynes v. Advance Auto Parts Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-00585-M, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
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2 thoughts onAdvance Auto Parts class action claims store fails to provide proper accommodations for nursing employees
I was working at advance auto part 3 months post partum in 2013 when I was denied a room to pump breast milk . I was told to go to the bathroom by the manager . I felt embarrassed and ended up enduring pain due to the amount of milk in my breast . I hope these people get justice .
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