Saige Dahmen was eager to learn the basics of hair cutting and coloring in cosmetology school in Beaverton, Oregon, in 2023. There was just one hiccup: She needed a 20-minute break during her five-hour school day to express milk for her nearly 1-year-old daughter, and the school only allowed 15 minutes.
Dahmen, 24, was told to submit a request under the Americans with Disabilities Act to the school’s Title IX coordinator, but it was denied, according to interviews and correspondence reviewed by NBC News, on the grounds that it did not meet the requirements for an ADA accommodation.
Instead, the coordinator said she’d have to clock out and make up the time. The cosmetology school declined to comment other than to say Dahmen’s account was “inaccurate.”
Dahmen said she tried for roughly two months to keep up her pumping schedule but grew frustrated and stopped expressing at school. She ultimately completed her program but…
