Breastfeeding mom banished to basement of Toronto country club 'very pleased' with apology - Action News
Home WebMail Tuesday, November 26, 2024, 10:17 AM | Calgary | -16.2°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Toronto

Breastfeeding mom banished to basement of Toronto country club 'very pleased' with apology

A breastfeeding mother asked to move to the basement of a Toronto golf and country club has accepted an apology from the club's board president.

Alexandra Shimo said restaurant manager hid her from view with a tablecloth

Alexandra Shimo breastfeeds her baby, Jacob, at their home in Toronto. On the weekend, Shimo was asked to move to the basement of a country club to nurse the baby. The president of the club has since apologized. (Lia Grimanis)

A breastfeeding mom that was escorted to the basement of a Toronto country club this weekend has now accepted an apology from the club's board president.

"Well I'm very pleased, said Alexandra Shimo. "First of all because the apology was public and secondof all it was going to come with sensitivity training for the staff."

In a letter sent to the mother Monday morning,the board president of the Lambton Golf and Country Club wrote to"offer our sincerest apologies" to her and her family regardingher experience.

Shimo,her partnerand their two-month-oldJacob were at the golf and country club for a charity event on Saturday.

Lambton Golf and Country Club says it will implement sensitivity training for its staff. (Paul Borkwood/CBC)

Shimosaysshe was breastfeeding Jacob in a"discreet corner" outside the restaurant when a manager told her patrons had complained about seeingher breastfeeding while they were eating.

Shimo says the manager firstuseda tablecloth to block her from the view of other patrons and then led her into the basement to continuebreastfeeding.

Shimo's partner, Lia Grimanis, posted this photo on Facebook after she found Shimo breastfeeding in the basement. (Facebook/Lia Grimanis)

"I was a bit upset, because he sort of made it seem like I had been doing something wrong and what I was doing was shameful,"Shimotold CBC News in an interview Sunday.

"Our staff member should have acted differently and not have asked you to move to another location at the club to continue feeding your baby. We deeply regret that this caused you to feel embarrassed,"saidBob Beaumont, the president of the club's board, inhis letter Monday.

Beaumont saidstaff will be educated on the Human Rights Code that prohibits discriminating against breastfeedingmothers.

In the letter, he also says staff will receive sensitivity training to make them aware "of the needs and rights of breastfeeding mothers."