Frontier Airlines has agreed to change several company policies that address the needs of pregnant and lactating flight attendants as part of a settlement between the airline and four of its employees, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado announced Wednesday.

The settlement comes after the flight attendants sued Frontier over allegations that the Denver-based airline penalized the employees for taking pregnancy-related absences and forced them to take unpaid leave, according to the ACLU.

“I’m glad that flight attendants who want to breastfeed will be given the time and space to pump breast milk in a healthy, sanitary way,” Melissa Hodgkins, a plaintiff in the case, said in a news release. “Future flight attendants won’t have to worry about how they are going to fit in pumping between flights or wonder where they will be able to pump safely. I gave up breastfeeding to provide for my family, and no one should have to make that choice again.”

Frontier has agreed to:

• Keep in place recent changes to its policies, including allowing flight attendants to safely pump during flight with the use of wearable breast pumps.
• Clarify its policies so that absences related to pregnancy are excused and not subject to disciplinary action.
• Provide a regularly updated list of lactation facilities at Frontier’s base location to flight attendants who give birth and set up a system to address feedback from flight attendants about the adequacy of its lactation facilities.
• Clarify its policies so that flight attendants unable to fly due to pregnancy or lactation are given the same accommodations as flight attendants with other medical conditions — including providing medical leave or temporary ground assignment, if offered by Frontier. 

“We’re proud to be at the forefront of accommodating the needs of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in the airline industry,” said Jacalyn Peter, Frontier’s vice president of labor relations. “Thanks in part to advances in wearable lactation technology, the parties were able to reach an amicable resolution of this case that doesn’t jeopardize public safety.”

Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, said: “Other airlines should follow Frontier’s lead and ensure that their flight crew (members) don’t have to give up breastfeeding in order to keep doing the jobs they love.”