Ex-KFC worker awarded more than $1.5M in breastfeeding case

WILMINGTON, Del. – A jury has ruled that a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee must pay over $1.5 million to a former Delaware employee who said she was demoted because she wanted to pump her breast milk.

The News Journal reports Autumn Lampkins was awarded $25,000 in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages Friday.

A lawsuit says co-workers and supervisors at KFC and KFC/Taco Bell restaurants made it so difficult for Lampkins to pump during her shift that her milk supply dried up.

Documents show she was hired months after giving birth in 2014 and was only allowed to pump about once during each 10-hour training shift. The lawsuit says she was demoted and struggled and co-workers complained she got “breaks” to pump breast milk.

Lawyers representing the franchisee didn’t respond to a request for comment.