Mom 'Drenched' In Her Own Breastmilk After Delta Airlines Allegedly Refused to Let Her on with Breast Pump

A mom is suing Delta Airlines after the airline allegedly didn't allow her to pump breastmilk during a four-hour flight.

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, new mom Erika Geraghty claims that Delta Airlines "forced" her to discard one of her two carry-on bags, one of which was filled with breastmilk and another that carried her breast pump and a second bag of breastmilk.

As a nursing mother, Geraghty depended on her stash of breast milk, as well as being able to pump, during the four-hour flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, where she would be reunited with her newborn son.

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However, Geraghty alleges that the airline denied her boarding until she agreed to check or discard one of her two bags. Though she tried to advocate for her rights as a woman under Delta's policies, which echo state and federal laws that exempt a breast pump as a personal item, the airline allegedly still wouldn't let her on the plane.

Three days after Geraghty filed her lawsuit against Delta, the airline filed a response, also obtained by PEOPLE, which denied her every allegation.

In her lawsuit, Geraghty claims that Delta gave her a "draconian dilemma" for any mother: choose between "the vital sustenance for her son or the indispensable instrument for its procurement."

Thinking on her feet, Geraghty saved her breast milk by removing the liquid that was in the breast pump bag, putting it in her second bag, and gate-checking the bag with her breast pump. Geraghty then claims that she endured a "grueling" flight, which included the agony of "breast engorgement" and the emotional trauma of public spectacle after she was "drenched in her own milk gushing from her breasts."

Geraghty claims her breastmilk soaked through her blouse in front of other passengers and co-workers, causing stares and whispers. When she left the plane and picked up her gate-checked bag, she says she found the breast pump "shattered in pieces."

The new mom claims she suffered damage to personal property, as well as extreme physical pain and suffered emotional distress and anguish. She also claims she suffered from a reduction in breast milk production, which never fully recovered and made it more difficult to feed her son.

Geraghty is demanding a trial by jury and is accusing Delta Airlines of discriminating against her sex, thus violating her civil rights. She is seeking economic and punitive damages, as well as civil penalties and statutory penalties.