On January 25, 2016 the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, in the case Siaca v. Bahía Beach Reso
rt & Golf Club,
LLC, AC-2012-102, stated that under
Act No. 427-2000, known as the Act to Regulate the Period to Breastfeed or to Express Breast Milk, all employers shall provide a private, secure and hygienic location for breastfeeding workers to express their milk and/or breastfeed their babies. The Court also established that the employer who doesn't fulfill this obligation may be liable under Act No. 427-2000, which allows the courts to impose a fine to the employer that could be equal to three times the salary paid to the employee for each day she was denied the period to nurse or extract her breast milk.
The Court explained that the constitutional right to privacy includes the power of the individuals to make certain kinds of personal decisions, such as the decision to breastfeed. Hence, every employer who hinders or prohibits breastfeeding at work, as allowed by Act No. 427-2000, violates the breastfeeding employees' constitutional right to privacy and may also be liable for damages under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code.
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