In the state of California there are laws in place prohibiting employers with five or more employees on staff from discriminating against employees due to their sex. In the case of breastfeeding discrimination, the term “sex” includes breastfeeding or any medical condition related to the act of breastfeeding. Therefore, if you work for an employer who has five or more employees, he or she is not permitted to discriminate against you because you wish to breastfeed your child.
Discrimination is just one part of the equation, harassment is another. The laws in place barring harassment of an employee for any cause directly or indirectly related to breastfeeding are far more broad and wide-ranging than those barring discrimination. These laws are in place regardless of the size of the company in which you work or whether or not the subject of this harassment is actually an employee or works as a freelancer or some other part-time capacity.
These laws are in place to prevent women from being treated inappropriately or unfairly simply due to their intention to breastfeed a child, take a lactation break, or pump breast milk. In the case of the latter, these laws apply to whether a woman is at home or at work.