New Mother Denied The Right To Breastfeed During Bar Exam

Which state bar is forcing nursing mothers into an uncomfortable situation?

It’s 2014, and although progress has been made for pregnant women and new mothers on both the federal and state level in terms of accommodating their needs, some businesses are still shockingly behind the curve. Forty-six states now allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location, but one law-related organization seems intent upon prohibiting new mothers from moving ahead in their aspirations to practice law. Which one could it be?

It’s not the Law School Admission Council. In June 2012, LSAT adopted a new policy concerning nursing mothers to allow for extended or additional breaks so they would be able to pump their breasts in peace. It’s not Biglaw firms. They’ve not only complied with new laws, but they now compete for which firm has the most luxurious lactation room.

If you guessed that the offending organization was a bar examining committee, then you were correct. Which state bar would rather force nursing mothers into an extremely painful situation than allow them to have extra time to breastfeed or breast pump during the exam?

Meet Kristin Pagano. She’s a 2013 graduate of the USC Gould School of Law, and she’s currently licensed to practice in California. She and her husband recently moved to Illinois, and she signed up to take the February 2015 bar examination so that she could find work in her new home state. There’s just one problem: Pagano is pregnant, and her due date falls during the month before the exam will take place.

She plans to breastfeed her infant daughter, and tried to get an accommodation from the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, with several reasonable requests, including a sanitary room to pump (with a female proctor/monitor present), access to refrigerated storage, 20-30 minute break periods to pump every 2 hours, and additional time to make up for the 20-30 minute break periods or an alternative testing schedule.

Unfortunately, Pagano’s requests were denied, and Carrie Heriford, Deputy Directors of Bar Examinations, instead offered several “reasonable accommodations” (read: absolutely absurd) in the following letter:

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Kristin Pagano Illinois Bar Breast Pump Denial Letter

Pagano estimated that these “accommodations” could result in an up to 50-minute process, causing her to lose precious time on the exam. When Pagano asked if she could appeal this decision, she was told that there was no appeals process. With no other options, Pagano then turned to her last resort: she asked Heriford if she would be able to pump in her seat during the exam. This is what she had to say about the Illinois Bar’s supposed accommodations for nursing mothers in an exclusive interview with Above the Law:

Here I am, a hormonal, emotional pregnant woman, bawling my eyes out about this. All I’m thinking about is how I am supposed to complete (and pass) the exam if I have to physically leave the room every time I pump? Do I really have to pump in an unsanitary bathroom (which could be on the opposite of the building)? Do I sacrifice my health (and my child’s) and sit there with painful, engorged, maybe even leaky breasts in order to complete the exam? If I am allowed to pump in the exam room, will the proctors be briefed about my rights ahead of time so I am not singled out and kicked out by an uninformed proctor? Will I be harassed or embarrassed by the proctors or other test-takers?

Pagano was so upset that the Illinois bar “so flippantly denied [her] request” that she wrote a formal letter requesting reconsideration of her request for accommodations during the February bar exam. This is perhaps the most striking portion (you can see the full letter, in all its glory, on the next page):

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For the record, Illinois is a state where women are allowed to breastfeed — and presumably breast pump — anytime, anywhere. The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar’s behavior in this situation reminds us of a judge who once told a woman that “laws [concerning public breastfeeding] don’t apply in a courtroom,” and that only “[t]he judge’s law applies.” In the eyes of the Illinois bar, do their laws, not the applicable state and federal laws, apply to women who are taking a test in the hopes of someday being able to practice those laws? That apparently seems to be the case, which is incredibly disappointing. It contrasts sharply with how helpful Illinois proctors were when a woman went into labor during the bar exam.

For the time being, we’re left with Pagano’s closing remarks during our exclusive interview with her:

I’m not one of those crazy feminists, but I am an unemployed woman with serious law school debt that just wants to get back in the workforce and support my family. The only way I can do that is to pass this darn Illinois exam, and the soonest I can do that is February.

One doesn’t have to be a “crazy feminist” to see that what the Illinois bar is doing here is wrong.

Kristin Pagano’s request for reconsideration has been placed on the agenda for the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar’s November 21, 2014 meeting. We hope that they’ll make the right decision.

UPDATE (11/25/14): Kristin Pagano emailed us today to let us know that the Illinois Bar responded positively to her requests. They have agreed to provide the following accommodations:

1. a private testing space, possibly with other nursing mothers, with access to a private sanitary space for pumping breast milk;

2. “stop the clock” breaks of up to 30 minutes for each 3-hour test session- you may determine when to take a break and how any breaks to take as long as total break time does not exceed 30 minutes; and

3. guarantee of a female proctor.

Regarding your request for refrigerated storage – while there may be a refrigerator at your testing location available for your use, we cannot guarantee its proper working condition and ask that you bring with you a small cooler with cold/freezer packs for storage of your breast milk. During the one-hour lunch breaks, you many arrange to have your baby brought to you for nursing; however, the amount of time allocated for lunch will not be extended for this purpose.

Pagano reports that she’s very happy with this great news, and hope that the Board adopts these accommodations as an official policy for all nursing examinees, and not just as a one-time accommodation for herself. We agree wholeheartedly. Congratulations, Kristin!

(Flip to the next page to see Kristin Pagano’s request for reconsideration letter in full.)