Nursing moms upset with Macy's

KAHALA, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Krystle Kaneshiro said Friday afternoon her friend -- a nursing mom -- needed to breast-feed her child.  Kaneshiro said the woman asked a clerk at Macy's in Kahala Mall if it was okay.

"She said she wasn't allowed to breast-feed there, that she needed to leave. She needed to find a bathroom," Kaneshiro said.
She said her friend claims the Macy's employee embarrassed her.  "She was rude about it, number one,  And then number two, she kicked her out of the store," Kaneshiro said.

Brandy Britton said a similar incident happened to her in the same store when she nursed her son in a fitting room and a Macy's worker banged on the door.

"She just kept screaming at me saying this room is not for feeding babies. The room is for trying on clothes, " Britton said.
Hawaii law protects women who nurse their kids in public.

"Very simply, moms can breast feed anytime, anywhere. They don't need to cover themselves and nobody can ask them to stop," said Lisa Kimura of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies.

In 2013, Hawaii News Now covered a dispute between a nursing mom and Macy's downtown.

Kaneshiro's with an organization of breastfeeding advocates.  She posted her friend's complaint on Facebook.  Kaneshiro wrote that she is disgusted by the store's conduct.

A Macy representative responded to the post saying, "Those who choose to nurse in our stores are welcome to do so."

"I don't feel like they acknowledged the problem," Kaneshiro said. "I don't think they show that they are going to make a difference."
Thursday, Kaneshiro and a group of moms plan to hold a peaceful protest.  Around noon they'll enter Macy's in Kahala Mall and breast feed their children.  "It's going to be very civil. We are just making a statement," she said.

Hawaii News Now called and emailed Macy's media office in Los Angeles for a statement, but received no response.

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