Expectant mom is denied extra time to breast pump during February bar exam
An expectant mother who plans to take the Illinois bar exam a month after she gives birth to her child has been denied extra time to breast pump.
Kristin Pagano, a California lawyer who recently moved to Illinois with her husband, plans to breastfeed her newborn. Her due date is in January and the bar exam is scheduled for February. Her request for an accommodation was denied in a Nov. 6 letter, report Above the Law and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.
The letter informed Pagano she could bring the breast pump and supplies, though they may be inspected. Pagano will be advised of the nearest family restroom, and a chair will be provided there for her convenience, the letter said. While she can pump during the exam, no extra time will be provided, according to the letter, posted in full at Above the Law.
Pagano says she asked about the possibility of appeal and was told there was no appeals process. She has nonetheless written to request reconsideration, asserting violations of state and federal law. “Denial of my accommodation request,” she wrote, “is discriminatory on the basis of my gender and pregnancy.” She also cites Illinois law protecting nursing mothers.
The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar is reviewing Pagano’s request, according to Regina Kwan Peterson, director of administration for the board. She told the Wall Street Journal Law Blog that Pagano’s “situation is the first of its kind in terms of asking for the extent of accommodations.”
The Law Blog says case law on the issue is ambiguous. Most of the federal cases concern employees in the workplace. But one case decided by Massachusetts’ top court in 2012 found that a nursing mother taking a medical licensing exam was protected by the state law barring discrimination in public accommodations. In Illinois, however, the state supreme court has ruled its public accommodations law does not apply to university programs.
Galen Sherwin, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, supported Pagano in an interview with the Law Blog. “Women who are taking these highly competitive and often very grueling tests would suffer a serious disadvantage if they weren’t able to express breast milk on a schedule that they need,” she said. “This isn’t special treatment but what’s necessary to level the playing field.”
