A California college professor has been forced to apologize to a student after telling her not to breastfeed her 10-month-old daughter...
A California college professor has been forced to apologize to a student after telling her not to breastfeed her 10-month-old daughter during his online classes.
Marcella Mares, 23, made a complaint to Fresno City College after her statistics instructor took issue with her turning off her camera and microphone to breastfeed and told her to wait until after class.
The request violated California law which requires schools to accommodate those who need to breastfeed without any academic penalty.
He has since apologized after being made aware of the state code but Mares hopes further action will be taken, accusing him of asking her to 'let my baby be hungry' in an angry Facebook post.
Marcella Mares, 23, made a complaint to Fresno City College after her statistics instructor told her not to breastfeed her daughter during online classes. She posted the picture above to Facebook saying it proved that she could still concentrate in class while she breastfed
Mares also complained in a Facebook post, accusing the instructor of asking her to let her 10-month-old daughter, pictured with Mares, go hungry during the four-hour long class
The issue began on September 23 when the instructor issued an email to the class in which he outlined a new rule that would require all students to turn on their cameras and microphones throughout the class.
He said that it was mandatory during the nearly four-hour class as participation was lacking.
Mares, a criminology major, replied to explain that she would oblige but may turn them off when she needed to breastfeed her daughter.
The student was shocked when the educator responded to tell her not to breastfeed during the class.
'I am glad to hear that you can have your camera and microphone on, but please do not breastfeed your daughter during class time because it is not what you should be doing,' he replied.
'Just do that after class.'
Later that day, the instructor announced to the class that he had received a 'weird email' from a student who wanted to do some 'inappropriate' things during the online classes, Mares said.
'He publicly outed me in front of the class,' she told CNN.
'I was upset about it. I didn't like the feeling of him telling me what I can and can't do with my baby, especially in my own home because school is online right now.'
Fresno City College, pictured, apologized to Mares and confirmed that it was her right under California state law to take the time she needed to breastfeed during class without penalty
After she was allegedly called out in class, Mares shared the email she received from him to Facebook, accusing him of wanting her to 'let my baby be hungry' and to 'ignore my baby crying for 4 hours of class'.
'I’m mad. I’m in class right now & he said “I got a weird email from a student about her having to take care of some things that have nothing to do with my class. You guys need to put those distractions aside and give your full attention to this course",' she wrote.
'He said more but that’s too much to write. He literally said wants me to ignore my crying baby for the 4 hours of class just so I can copy notes that are available to me indefinitely. He wants me to let my baby be hungry or even just crying because she won’t even be hungry & she’ll just want me for comfort.
'This guy had the audacity to say that it is “very weird” to be doing those kinds of things during class,' she added.
Marcella Mares, pictured, says that she hopes the school will take further action against the instructor despite his apology
'While he was talking about this to the whole class I was holding back so much I was so red. I wanted to tell him off so bad lol I can’t believe this is happening to me because I only read about all the stories I never thought I’d have it happen to me!'
In a later post, Mares shared a picture of herself breastfeeding during an online class saying: 'I just wanted to show that I CAN focus in class WHILE breastfeeding my child'.
'I felt so unmotivated during class I was so hurt that an actual human said these things about me & my breastfed baby in public to other students. I was humiliated,' she wrote.
'Then I realized, he should be humiliated. He discriminated against me and many others when he said “put those distractions aside or be creative when your child needs you” like what the f**k?! This is a child we are talking about not our phones or TVs or any other THING.
'I hope this man thinks before he decides to continue with his career, if he even has one anymore. Breastfeeding mamas & any mama that is trying to juggle school, work, & a child should be praised not put down & humiliated. I love my baby & would choose her health over anything or anyone, any day of any week!' she concluded.
Mares also made a complaint to the school's Title IX coordinator, Lorraine Smith, and a few days later received an apology from the instructor.
'I am sorry for the inconvenience in regard to your intention of breastfeeding your baby,' the September 26 email read.
'From now on, you have the right to breastfeed your baby at any given time during class, which includes doing group worksheet, listening to the lecture, and taking the quiz or exam. You may turn off your camera at any given time as needed.'
Mares has since dropped the class for unrelated reasons. She said, however, that she expected the school to take further action.
She added that she had no issues about breastfeeding in other classes and that instructors had supported her as she urged parents to stand their ground.
The 23-year-old student complained about the incident on Facebook after claiming that the instructor called her out during the next class and accused her of an 'inappropriate' request
'Just stand your ground. Don’t let anybody tell you when and where you can feed your baby, even if it is somebody that is higher (up) than you,' she told the Fresno Bee.
'I don’t think that he realized what he was doing at the time,' Mares added. 'But I do believe that other students did get offended because somebody also said, "What are we supposed to do with our babies when they’re crying and what if our children need to come in?"'
Fresno City College confirmed it received a complaint from Mares but that it has worked with the instructor to explain that she was allowed to breastfed during class under Californian state law.
'Dean Lorraine Smith communicated with her, confirming her rights according to California law and we worked with the instructor to make sure that her rights weren't being violated,' the school's Public Information Officer Kathy Bonilla told CNN.
'The instructor also reached out to her to correct his directive.'
She added that the instructor was 'not aware of the law pertaining to breastfeeding and now understands that his directive was not correct'.
'California law requires that schools accommodate students for conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth including lactation,' Bonilla continued.
'The accommodation includes providing the time away from class to breastfeed without academic penalty.'
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