In a poorly thought out opinion, Judge Lynnn Hughes of the Southern District of Texas ruled earlier this year that breastfeeding is not related to pregnancy.  See my prior post on this ruling.  A female employee had been fired because she was planning to breastfeed at work.  Women are protected from discrimination based on pregnancy.  But, Judge Hughes found that breastfeeding is not related to pregnancy or any particular gender.  His decision was met with some derision at the time.

Well, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has overruled Judge Hughes.  The higher court found that lactation is a medical condition related to pregnancy.  See the Fifth Circuit decision in EEOC v. Houston Funding II  here.  The upper court looked at various dictionaries to reach its conclusion.  Yea, they had to some deep legal research to work this out…..

Judge Hughes is the same Houston judge who previously said that a reference to Pres. Obama and fried chicken was not related to race.  See my prior post about that case.  Judge Hughes was also overturned regarding that decision.  In that Fifth Circuit decision, the appellate court chastised Judge Hughes for his ruling.