Greek Islands Restaurant in Anacortes, Washington was greeted by protestors after the owner reportedly kicked a woman and her family out of the restaurant for breastfeeding her newborn child.
Aaron and Ruby Meeden planned on meeting their extended family at the Greek Islands Restaurant, along with their two year-old son, and their days-old son Rhett.
KOMO News reported on the incident.
Baby Rhett was hungry upon arrival, requiring Ruby to breastfeed.
As she told KOMO News, she did so as discreetly as possible.
"I made sure to get a good latch before we went in and then I covered and everything and we sat facing the wall."
But apparently the care Ruby took wasn't enough for the owner of Greek Islands Restaurant.
After keeping them waiting for half an hour, seemingly to deal with phone orders, he approached the young family and told them to "get out."
Ruby's husband Aaron was shocked and confused by the restaurant owner's actions.
"So we were asking him, 'What's wrong? is everything ok?"
"And at that point he said, 'Never come back.'"
The couple unhappily complied with the owner's request, but did not remain silent on the matter.
It is against the law in the state of Washington to forbid a woman from breastfeeding in public.
Humiliated, the couple filed a negative review of the restaurant online, which Aaron Meeden subsequently shared on his Facebook page.
The restaurant owner later left a comment on their one-star review, in Spanish.
They made no attempt to hide the fact Ruby Meeden's breastfeeding was the reason he kicked them out.
Aaron Meeden shared the Google translation of the restaurant owner's comment in his Facebook post.
"Thank you, never bring your brats here again, my restaurant, my rules."
"Be like decent people, not like animals, there are places for everything and this place is not to breastfeed your children, sorry."
Meeden said in his post his wife felt "horrible and ashamed" by the owner's words and conduct.
She later confirmed this to KOMO news.
"My choice to breastfeed my child in that restaurant was the reason my entire family was thrown out, it sucked."
Local mothers in the area were in agreement, and subsequently protested outside of the Greek Islands Restaurant a few days later.
While the protestors were hoping to confront the owner, the restaurant operated a take-out only business on the day of the protest, before closing much earlier than scheduled.
But Megan Stevens, one of the mothers present at the protest—carrying her infant child in a snuggly—made it clear sooner or later the owner will have to face consequences for his actions and attitude.
"He's going to have to answer for it one way or another because it's illegal to kick a woman out for breastfeeding."
People on YouTube expressed their disgust at the restaurant owner's actions.
They offered sympathy towards Ruby Meeden and her baby.
"Why can't people in our society accept breastfeeding? Why does there need to be a law saying that breastfeeding is ok?"- John Rigola/YouTube.
"Don't piss off the mommas! This guy screwed up big time!"- Brian Garrow/YouTube.
"I hope that the moms continue to show up."- Miriam Cohen/YouTube
"How rude!! I hope that business gets sued, and then shut down."- Barbara Washington/YouTube.
"I will never go there again!"- Elle Cross/YouTube.
"They don't just owe this mother a simple apology; they owe her an engraved apology in stone, which should be left in a conspicuous place to serve as a reminder of the treatment that she got at their establishment!"- zaccure/YouTube.
"SUE SUE PUT GREEK ISLAND RESTAURANT OUT OF BUSINESS...... THAT LITTLE SWEET ANGEL BABY HAS A RIGHT TO EAT ANY TIME ANY WHERE JUST LIKE US ALL !!!!! .... mommy did the RIGHT THING FEED YOUR BABY !!!"- Paul Primero/YouTube.
Others made sure the actions of Greek Islands Restaurant didn't go unnoticed on Twitter.
Aside from their reply to the Meeden's online review, the owner of Greek Islands Restaurant has yet to publicly comment on the matter.
The Meedens also told KOMO News they are considering contacting the state Human Rights Commission about a possible investigation of the incident.
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