Mom booted from store for breastfeeding

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COLE HARBOUR, Nova Scotia, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A Canadian mom says she was booted from a Nova Scotia mall store on Christmas Eve for breastfeeding her baby, despite a law allowing it.

Kendra-Ann Nugent of Cole Harbour told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. she was in Claire's, an accessories store in the Mic Mac Mall, when her 8-month-old daughter Brooke-Lynn required feeding.

She said she asked an employee for a chair, covered herself with her husband's jacket and began breastfeeding her baby in the back of the store.

An assistant manager asked her to leave, and repeated herself after Nugent told her breastfeeding has been a mother's right "anytime, anywhere in Nova Scotia" since 2000.

"I left the store immediately. I was pretty shocked and I was upset. I felt bullied," Nugent said. "I [feel] that all mothers in Nova Scotia should have the right to breastfeed... and feel comfortable while doing so."

Nugent said she was unaware of any customers complaining about her breastfeeding.

A representative for the store said Nugent's complaint was being investigated.

"We do not have a company policy that would require a mother that is breastfeeding a baby to leave our store, so we would not condone such an action," Stacy Forgang said in an email.

"We will ensure that all our store associates are aware of our policy and are sensitive to these types of situations in the future."

Women who support Nugent are going into activist mode, planning a "nurse in" at the store on New Year's Eve, the CBC said.

Earlier this month, a restaurant owner in Dartmouth said customers complained about her breastfeeding, prompting a food safety investigation.