No Extra Exam Time for Nursing Mom

Judge rejects Harvard med student's suit, tells her to take test later
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 21, 2007 11:25 AM CDT
No Extra Exam Time for Nursing Mom
Sophie Currier holds her daughter Lea while sitting in their Brookline, Mass., living room Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. A judge ruled Wednesday, Sept. 19, that Currier cannot have extra break time during her nine-hour medical licensing exam so she can pump breast milk to feed her 4-month-old daughter....   (Associated Press)

A Massachusetts court has denied a Harvard med student's suit demanding extra break time during a 9-hour medical licensing exam to pump breast milk for her 4-month-old child. Sophie Currier, 33, sued on grounds that she must nurse her infant daughter or pump milk every 2 to 3 hours or risk medical consequences; the judge said Currier has other options.

The court said Currier could manage with the standard 45-minute breaks or take the exam after weaning her daughter. Currier called the ruling discriminatory, saying, "Men do not have to put off their careers because they are feeding a child." Currier has already failed the test once, when she took it while eight months pregnant. (More breast feeding stories.)

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