In Mellor v MFG Academies Trust the claimant was a teacher and mother of two.  Prior to taking maternity leave relative to her second child she wrote to her employer requesting flexible working and that a room be made available to her to allow her to express milk regularly.  This request was repeated during her maternity leave.  When the claimant returned to work - her flexible working request having been granted - she was told there were no rooms available to express milk and so she had no choice but to resort to expressing in her car or the toilets.  As the claimant wasn't given any time to express she also often found herself trying to eat lunch at the same time.  The claimant described the toilets as "unhygienic" and "disgusting" and her car as cold and in public view of other staff and students.  The lack of suitable space to express led to the humiliation of leaking breasts while teaching and she subsequently contracted mastitis. 

The claimant lodged an application with the tribunal alleging both direct and indirect discrimination and harassment.  Although the direct and indirect discrimination claims were unsuccessful, the employment tribunal found in the claimant's favour when it came to the harassment claim.  Not surprisingly in the circumstances the tribunal held that the failure to provide a suitable place to express milk had the effect of creating a degrading and/or humiliating environment for the claimant. 

There is currently no statutory right to the provision of breastfeeding or expressing facilities in the workplace.  However, Health and Safety Executive guidance recommends employers should provide suitable facilities for expressing milk and a fridge for storing it.  Although the length of maternity leave available in the UK often means that the expressing of milk is not an issue on return to work, employers should do their best to provide suitable facilities when requested to do so.