A mother has opened up about her recent experience as she revealed she was fined for stopping at a car park to feed her young baby.
Amanda Ruggeri is a journalist from Cornwall, England, who was slapped with a hefty fine after briefly stopping at the Newquay Golf Club parking to breastfeed her 12-week-old baby.
As the mom revealed, she had no idea anyone would be bothered by her family making a short stop because it was already evening and the car park managed by Smart Parking Ltd was allegedly already empty.
After breastfeeding her baby for 20 minutes, the mother left only to receive a $235 fine from Smart Parking weeks later.
While the family was accused of parking illegally at the car park exclusive to golf club members, the mom appealed the ticket suggesting she hadn’t noticed the sign prohibiting them from parking at the car park.
“She’s never a fan of the car, but this was a total meltdown – absolutely screaming and purple in the face,” Amanda said in an interview with CornwallLive as she recalled her baby daughter’s crying episode.
“Turned out that our little girl was just very, very hungry and needed to be fed. I breastfed her for 20 minutes and then we left. It was 7.51 pm and the car park was empty, so we didn’t think it would bother anyone.”
The upset mom went on to invoke the Equality Act as she suggested her family should be spared the fine because their baby had to be fed “on demand.” Nevertheless, Smart Parking Ltd, whom the mother accused of “discriminatory” and “predatory” behavior, refused to change their ruling according to Amanda.
Following the dispute, the mother now has the chance to appeal the company’s decision at Parking on Private Land Appeals, an independent appeals service.
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