A horrified mum claims Greggs staff ‘broke Equality law’ by banning her from breastfeeding in store – telling her to do it in the toilet instead.
Rebecca Reeve visited the Westwood Cross Greggs branch in Thanet, Kent, with her partner Jack Hinkley, 25, and her six-month-old Alfie Hinkley on February 16th. But after forking out £16 on sandwiches, cakes and sausage rolls, the 23-year-old claims when she asked politely she was told by a male worker she couldn’t breastfeed her baby in-store.
When the carer disputed the worker’s reply, Rebecca claims he said their ‘company policy’ didn’t allow for breastfeeding in the store. The mum-of-one claims she was even more shocked when they told her to go and feed her baby in the toilet or on the bench outside in the cold.
In the UK, breastfeeding in public is legal and protected by the Equality Act 2010 and it’s illegal to discriminate against someone for breastfeeding including asking them to stop or leave. After wolfing down their food quickly, Rebecca says the trio walked to M&S where she was able to breastfeed her baby in public with no issue.
Horrified, Rebecca claims Greggs broke the law and is now sharing her experience to highlight how she was treated. Greggs said they were ‘very sorry’ this happened and customers are welcome to breastfeed in their shops.
Rebecca, from Thanet, Kent, said: “After ordering my food, I said my baby needed feeding and asked if that was okay and he [the Greggs trainee worker] went to check.
“At this point, I wasn’t asking to breastfeed, I was just asking if it was okay to sit on the table. Another man came out and said I wasn’t allowed to do that. I said ‘do what?’ and he said ‘breastfeed in here’.
“He said it was their policy and told me I needed to do it in a public toilet or sit outside. I was very angry straight away. I wouldn’t eat my lunch in a public toilet and it made me feel disappointed in this day and age that they wanted me to feed my baby in here.
“Also, it was freezing outside. It made me feel that my baby didn’t matter to them. I was very embarrassed. I went and sat down with my partner and quickly ate our food.
“When I sat down, there was a female member of staff cleaning. I asked her if it was okay to breastfeed my baby as I thought her attitude might be a bit different.
“She said ‘no sorry’ and said it was company policy and told me to go to a public toilet or the bench [outside]. It felt to me that they had been told to say this.”
Following the incident, Rebecca says she rang her mum upset who then phoned the Greggs store to complain and claims she was again told breastfeeding wasn’t allowed under their policy. Since taking her complaint higher with Greggs, Rebecca says she has been issued a full apology from the firm’s head office and the company has opened up an investigation into the situation.
Rebecca said: “My mum said they had broken the law. At the time, I didn’t know there were laws around it. Breastfeeding in public is allowed in public so Greggs have broken the law.
“I don’t know if an apology can cut the fact that I couldn’t feed my son when he was hungry. It’s stressful as it is when you’re a new mum and you do feel vulnerable.
“If I had taken him to the toilet to feed him, what would that have made me look like as a mum? I would have looked like an awful mum. I was very angry and disappointed and it has put me off going back into this Greggs.”
Rebecca is meeting with a regional branch manager to discuss the matter further and will be attending the store with other mums at the weekend to ‘protest’ against her treatment.
Rebecca said: “It’s not really a protest. It’s just a group of mums and we’re all going to go into the Greggs and sit and feed our babies, which we have the right to do and can’t be kicked out for it. We’re not doing it to badmouth the company or have signs and shouting, we’re just doing it to show this specific branch it is allowed.”
A Greggs spokesman said: “We are very sorry that this has happened – customers are welcome to breastfeed in our shops. We have been in close contact with the customer and, as a matter of urgency this week, have worked with our shop teams to ensure this does not happen again.”