Bartlesville Restaurant Files Lawsuit Over Breastfeeding Claim

<p>A Bartlesville restaurant accused of asking a woman to leave&nbsp;for breastfeeding her infant has filed a lawsuit against the&nbsp;women who made the&nbsp;claim.</p>

Thursday, June 9th 2016, 2:28 pm

By: News On 6


A Bartlesville restaurant accused of asking a woman to leave for breastfeeding her infant has filed a lawsuit against the women who made the claim.

The claim came from a Washington County woman who said she ate at Eggberts with her family in March 2016.  Amanda Wilson said after she began to breastfeed her newborn,  she was asked by an Eggberts' employee to cover up, stop or leave.

5/22/2016 Related Story: Breastfeeding Bartlesville Mom Says She Was Asked To Leave Restaurant

Eggberts' lawsuit says Wilson wrote a handwritten note describing her experience and asked a friend to deliver it to the restaurant. 

According to the lawsuit, Wilson was about to leave town so she asked two of her friends to deliver the note. The two friends, Donna Childress and Renee Powell, did not deliver the note, the lawsuit says.

Eggberts says the two women typed a new version of the letter, delivering the modified letter to the restaurant.

The restaurant says the three women then sent a copy of the typed letter to a Bartlesville radio station and News On 6.  It says the women also posted their claims on Facebook and other social media sites.

The lawsuit alleges that the woman making the claim and her friends all lied about the incident and the Eggberts' staff never told Amanda Wilson to cover up or leave.

Eggberts is suing the women claiming libel and slander and seeking actual and punitive damages not to exceed $500,000.

On Thursday afternoon, the restaurant issued a statement:

Eggberts has filed a petition against three individuals who have made false claims against and harmful actions toward our restaurant in regard to our allowing of a mother to breastfeed her child while at our restaurant.

Eggberts and its staff appreciates the importance of a mother’s right to breastfeed her child in public. Our staff and many long-time customers know Eggberts has always welcomed breastfeeding mothers in our restaurants and will continue to do so in the future. The accusations being made against our business by these individuals are entirely false and we are confident the facts will show this to be the case. While we cannot speak to the particulars of this lawsuit, we trust the judicial system will show that Eggberts’ established policies and values support all women’s right to breastfeed their children in our restaurant.  

Eggberts has decided to file this petition due to our commitment to not only protect the rights of customers but also to protect the livelihoods of our dedicated employees. It is not appropriate for individuals to create and spread false stories against innocent individuals or companies in order to try and raise awareness for a social cause. 

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