Bill Text: MI SB0674 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Civil rights; other; breastfeeding in public places; protect as civil right. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5591'14, HB 5592'14
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 24-12)
Status: (Passed) 2014-07-16 - Assigned Pa 0197'14 With Immediate Effect [SB0674 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-SB0674-Chaptered.html
Act No. 197
Public Acts of 2014
Approved by the Governor
June 24, 2014
Filed with the Secretary of State
June 24, 2014
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 24, 2014
STATE OF MICHIGAN
97TH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2014
Introduced by Senators Warren, Green, Jones, Hopgood, Smith, Ananich, Schuitmaker, Hood, Gregory, Whitmer, Anderson, Bieda, Booher, Brandenburg, Caswell, Colbeck, Emmons, Hansen, Hildenbrand, Hune, Hunter, Jansen, Johnson, Kahn, Kowall, Marleau, Moolenaar, Nofs, Pappageorge, Pavlov, Proos, Richardville, Robertson, Rocca, Walker and Young
ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 674
AN ACT to prohibit discriminatory practices, policies, and customs in the exercise of the right to breastfeed; to provide for enforcement of the right to breastfeed; and to provide remedies.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 1. (1) This act shall be known and may be cited as the “breastfeeding antidiscrimination act”.
(2) As used in this act:
(a) “Place of public accommodation” means a business, an educational institution, or a refreshment, entertainment, recreation, health, or transportation facility of any kind, whether licensed or not, whose goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations are extended, offered, sold, or otherwise made available to the public.
(b) “Public service” means a public facility, department, agency, board, or commission owned, operated, or managed by or on behalf of this state or a subdivision of this state, by a county, city, village, township, or independent or regional district in this state, or by a tax-exempt private agency established to provide service to the public, except that public service does not include a state or county correctional facility with respect to actions or decisions regarding an individual serving a sentence of imprisonment.
Sec. 2. Except where expressly permitted by state or federal statute or a regulation promulgated thereunder, a person with control over a public accommodation or public service shall not do any of the following:
(a) Deny the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation or public service to a woman because she is breastfeeding a child.
(b) Print, circulate, post, mail, or otherwise cause to be published a statement, advertisement, notice, or sign that indicates any of the following:
(i) That the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation or public service will be refused, withheld from, or denied a woman because she is breastfeeding a child.
(ii) That a woman’s patronage of or presence at a place of public accommodation is objectionable, unwelcome, unacceptable, or undesirable because she is breastfeeding a child.
Sec. 3. (1) A person alleging a violation of this act may bring a civil action in a court of appropriate jurisdiction for appropriate injunctive relief, actual damages or presumed damages of $200.00, or both injunctive relief and actual or presumed damages.
(2) In addition to the relief under subsection (1), a court rendering a judgment in an action brought under this act may award all or a portion of the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees and witness fees, to the complainant in the action if the court determines that the award is appropriate.
Enacting section 1. This act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 97th Legislature are enacted into law:
(a) House Bill No. 5591.
(b) House Bill No. 5592.
This act is ordered to take immediate effect.
Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Approved
Governor
