La Pine breastfeeding mom: A ‘natural thing to do’

A La Pine woman has filed a lawsuit against her family’s Bend dentist office, claiming she was told she wasn’t welcome to nurse her 16-month-old son in the same room while a dentist was set to remove her older child’s tooth.

In the lawsuit, filed late last week in Portland, Kalee Kellough, 31, asked a judge to declare that Willamette Dental Group’s Bend office illegally discriminated against her, based on her sex, The Oregonian reported Wednesday.

“Under Oregon law, women have the right to breast-feed children in any public place, and women cannot be discriminated against for breast-feeding in places of public accommodation,” the lawsuit states.

A Willamette Dental Group representative said Tuesday the business could not comment on pending litigation. The Hillsboro-based company has 50 dental offices across the Northwest.

Kellough told the newspaper her daughter, now 5, had a root canal done earlier this year at the same office, and she had nursed her now-17-month-old son, Bryce, throughout that procedure. They returned to the dentist July 31 to have the tooth removed, due to continued pain.

She said dentist Matthew Haehlen, who had not worked on her daughter’s teeth before, came into the room and left. Afterward, a female office assistant then entered and told her the dentist wouldn’t perform the procedure if she was in the room, as he “doesn’t feel comfortable” with her nursing in the same room.

Kellough said she was told she and her son could go into the waiting room, but her daughter wanted her in the room while her tooth was removed. The lawsuit said she was escorted out. Haehlen is named in the lawsuit, but is not listed as a defendant.

“I feel like breastfeeding is arguably one of the most natural things a mother can do,” Kellough told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday. “Us moms have enough anxiety as it is, going out with our toddlers anywhere.

“The fact that we have to worry about if we’re going to be able to feed them without dirty looks, without shame — you know, without all the negative connotations that come with this, it’s really just mind-boggling that we deal with this in this day and age.”

The lawsuit seeks no damages, but Michael Fuller, the Portland attorney representing Kellough, told the newspaper he could amend the lawsuit to seek damages, if the judge agrees.