A young mother says she was asked to leave a Blue Ridge restaurant while she was breastfeeding.
She captured part of the interaction on video, which circulated online and attracted widespread attention.
In Aris Kopiec’s cellphone video recorded last month, you can hear her ask a man behind the counter, “Is it because you don’t allow women to breastfeed here?”
The man responded, “No, sorry, ma’am. You’re breastfeeding right at the table, so get out of here.”
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kopitz told Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter She, her husband and their three daughters were enjoying the vacation at Toccoa’s Riverside Restaurant in Blue Ridge, where they were vacationing.
“They sat us at a corner table…that actually overlooked the river, which was pretty nice,” Kopitz said.
Toward the end of the meal, her 4-month-old daughter became fussy and Kopitz needed to feed her.
“My husband handed her to me and I immediately breastfed her. Then my husband handed her the blanket and I put it over her,” Kopitz said.
Their pleasant dining experience quickly changed, she said.
“When I stood up, I either bumped into a chair or I bumped into someone…and I stood up and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,’ and I was still holding my baby, still covered in the quilt. When I turned around to apologize, it was the owner, and he said, ‘You can’t do that here,'” Kopitz explained.
She said she tried to explain that she no longer breastfed and just held the baby under a blanket.
“He kept yelling, ‘You have to get to the corner…’ and he just kept saying, ‘I’m trying to protect my restaurant.’ I said, ‘I’m just trying to get out and you’re blocking the side exit,’ and he just kept saying, ‘Go on, go,'” Kopitz added.
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Koppitz said she went to the riverside behind the restaurant with her older children while her husband paid the bill and returned to collect their belongings. She said that’s when she left the restaurant and met the owner again, at which point she began recording.
“I just walked up and said, ‘Breastfeeding is protected by law. If you want to protect your restaurant, you should obey the law because you really could lose your restaurant.'” That’s all I wanted to tell him,” Kopitz said.
A manager at the restaurant, who did not want to be interviewed on camera but spoke on behalf of the owner, said the customer was asked to move to a more private area after another diner complained.
He added that Kopitz was asked to leave only after she began recording because her bosses felt she escalated the situation unnecessarily.
In Georgia, women can breastfeed in public places, including restaurants. Staff at the Blue Ridge restaurant said breastfeeding has been allowed there for more than 30 years.
Channel 2 Action News It was previously reported that the restaurant would open in 2023 after facing backlash over the “bad teaching” of a menu surcharge.
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