Sun Country Airlines settles ex-employee’s suit alleging retaliation for pumping breast milk at MSP

Sun Country Airlines has settled a lawsuit filed by a former employee accusing the Minneapolis-based carrier of humiliating and retaliatory treatment for pumping breast milk on the job.

Hani Ali, represented by St. Paul-based Gender Justice, filed a lawsuit against the airline in November, alleging Sun Country violated the state’s Human Rights Act and Women’s Economic Security Act. Ali said the toxic environment got so bad she had to quit within months of being hired as a customer service agent at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Through a jury trial, Ali was seeking compensation for lost wages, emotional distress and mental anguish, and an injunction to ensure that Sun Country and other airlines do not subject other nursing mothers to similar mistreatment.

“The parties have resolved the case in a manner that is satisfactory to both parties,” Sun Country and Gender Justice announced in a joint statement. “The parties are proud to say that Sun Country has committed to implement nursing mother accommodations beyond those required under federal and state law, including a new lactation space.”

Ali joined Sun Country in September 2021 shortly after giving birth. According to the complaint filed in Hennepin County courts, during her training, a Sun Country manager told her to use the baggage storage office when she needed to pump.

The claim states supervisors who were aware that Ali was instructed to use the office did not inform other supervisors and employees. When she began work and used the office, Ali said a male coworker was staring at her through a window. The man claimed he kept looking at Ali even though her chest was exposed because she did not have a badge and “he needed to verify who she was,” according to the complaint.

The coworker left and brought back a male manager, who told her to use a public bathroom. The two men then filed a complaint with the company’s human resources department against Ali, and she was told she could no longer enter the baggage claim office for any reason. Ali said she began using the airport’s public lactation room, but the wait for availability and moving through security checkpoints took up to an hour.

Ali said she was instructed to take fewer and shorter pumping breaks. She also said supervisors stopped scheduling her to work inside the terminal — which was closer to the only place she could pump. When she asked one supervisor why she wasn’t assigned inside the terminal, she was told it was because of her pumping.

“In Minnesota, nursing and pumping parents have a legal right to be supported and protected against discrimination on the job, and Minnesota employers have a legal responsibility to protect them and provide the basic accommodations they need,” said Sara Jane Baldwin, senior staff attorney for Gender Justice.

Ali stated she repeatedly requested Sun Country’s human resources team to intervene but saw no improvements. She resigned in March 2022.

Before the settlement, Sun Country denied in court filings several assertions and legal allegations in Ali’s complaint, which the airline’s attorneys argued did not have enough facts to meet the legal requirements for a lawsuit.

Dorsey & Whitney, a Minneapolis law firm representing Sun Country, declined to comment. Sun Country officials declined to make further comments.