Investigators found mother denied nursing space, time at Sterling Heights plant

STERLING HEIGHTS, MI – After the U.S. Department of Labor found a Stellantis’ auto plant in Sterling Heights violated the rights of nursing mothers employed there, the global manufacturer of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, will create additional lactation rooms and correct its break policy to avoid future violations.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division responded to an allegation that a plant employee was expressing breast milk on the factory floor after being denied access to the assembly plant’s lactation rooms. They also learned of Stellantis’ improper policy of requiring nursing mothers to submit a doctor’s note and the baby’s birth certificate to access lactation rooms. The requirements prevented the employee from expressing milk when needed, a requirement of provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In addition, division investigators found the Stellantis plant lacked adequate lactation rooms, forcing nursing mothers to wait up to 20 minutes for an available room or otherwise express milk elsewhere, such as the community shower area. At the time of the investigation, a minimum of 19 nursing mothers shared access to four, one-person lactation rooms.

“The outcome of this investigation, and Stellantis’ changes at its Sterling Heights assembly plant will have a significant impact on current and future nursing mothers by removing barriers that make it difficult to...

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