IKEA Now Denies Claims Of Breastfeeding Mom Who Says She Was Called “Disgusting”

(cookedphotos)

Last week, we told you about IKEA apologizing to a mom in Ottawa, Canada, who claimed that an employee at the store told her she was being “disgusting” while she nursed her daughter and allegedly told her to “take it to the bathroom.” But now, IKEA is saying that after reviewing in-store footage from the day in question, it found no evidence that the customer was even nursing.

A rep for IKEA Canada says that because the retailer “supports mothers’ right to breast feed openly,” it took proactive steps to apologize to her after reading her post (since removed) on the IKEA Canada Facebook page. It also launched an internal investigation.

“Our investigation has revealed that the customer was not in the store at the time and location she claims the incident occurred,” the IKEA rep tells Consumerist. However, the footage did turn up evidence that she had visited the store several hours later in the day, but IKEA maintains that “there is no evidence of the interaction she has described.”

The rep continues: “In fact, at no time does she breast feed her child during her shopping trip and her infant is not with her when she goes through the cash lane.”

The mom had stated that she had gone to speak to a manager about a pricing issue, but IKEA claims that, according to the security footage, while the mom was taking care of that business, “The infant in question is sitting in a high chair in the Bistro with a member of her party.”

Additionally, the retailer says it has not been able to corroborate any of the details provided by the mother in her story.

For her part, the mom is sticking by her story.

“I’m assuming (it’s another woman) or the time’s wrong,” she tells the Ottawa Citizen. “I’d have to see the footage.”

The mother says she wasn’t looking for money from the store and was just hoping that sharing her side of events would help in “getting rid of the stigma” of nursing in public.

“All the employees have been spoken to in regards to (IKEA’s) breastfeeding policy, which is really all I wanted,” she maintains. “They just need some re-education.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist