Walker Art Museum Sued After Prohibiting Woman From Breastfeeding

A woman is suing Minnesota’s Walker Art Center, alleging gender discrimination after a staff member told her she could not breastfeed her infant in the museum’s galleries.

Megan Mzenga, a resident of Minneapolis and mother of an eight-month-old infant and three-year-old son, filed the lawsuit against the arts center earlier this month in a Minnesota district court, claiming that the institution violated her rights when its staff failed to follow its own policies.

The incident occurred during a visit to the arts museum on Saturday, March 2, when the museum hosted its Family Day programming — a free event offering family-friendly exhibitions, activities, and interactive workshops that takes place on the first Saturday of each month. The Walker Art Center’s website specifies that “parents are free to nurse children wherever feels most comfortable.” But Mzenga was stunned when a male staff member of the museum “sternly” told her that she wasn’t allowed to breastfeed her then-seven-month-old daughter on a sofa in one of the galleries, according to the suit.

“You can’t do that here,” the staffer allegedly told her, before adding that he was calling an escort on his walkie-talkie device to remove Mzenga from the gallery.

“Ms. Mzenga took this discussion as an escalation of the Walker’s efforts to stop her from breastfeeding and including possible removal from the Walker entirely,” the complaint reads, adding that Mzenga was “in complete shock” as she proceeded to leave the area to avoid the possibility of being physically forced to do so. According to the document, Mzenga finished feeding her daughter after walking downstairs and leaving the gallery, where she asked a staff member about the Walker’s breastfeeding policy.

“He didn’t think they had any [policy] and gave me a feedback form to fill out,” Mzenga told local news reporters at Kare11. Hyperallergic has reached out to Mzenga and her legal representation for comment.

Later on, the museum’s visitor and gallery operations manager reached out to Mzenga to assure her that she was “in the right,” reiterating that the institution’s policy is open to anyone in need.

A representative for the Walker Art Center told Hyperallergic that the museum “cannot comment on the specifics of pending litigation,” but that they “welcome and encourage visitors to breastfeed wherever they’re most comfortable throughout the building, including the galleries.”

“If a visitor asks for a private space, there is a small family-friendly room on the ninth floor with a couch, sink, and bathroom,” the representative said, adding that if the room is locked, visitors are encouraged to ask for a key to the space available at the front desk. Bottle-feeding is not allowed in the galleries, as it violates the museum’s food and beverage policy, the spokesperson added.

According to Minnesota law, nursing parents are allowed to breastfeed in any public or private location where they are permitted to be, irrespective of whether the nipple is concealed or uncovered during breastfeeding.

The recent lawsuit against the Walker states that Mzenga felt “extremely embarrassed, and like she was doing something wrong.”

“But most significantly, Ms. Mzenga felt a deep sense that she was not welcome and did not ‘belong’ at the Walker because she is a breastfeeding mother,” the suit reads.