ORANGE : Law Firm Sues Over Babies in Workplace

A women’s law firm filed suit in Orange County Superior Court this week against its landlord in a dispute over whether women may bring their infants to work.

The suit, filed by the Women’s Law Center of Orange, asks the court to determine whether employees who bring their infants to the rented legal offices each day violate a lease agreement with the landlord, Tishman West Management Corp.

In May, attorney Diane J. Marlowe set up a portable crib in her office and began bringing her newborn daughter to work with her. Last month, Marlowe’s paralegal also gave birth and soon was bringing her son to the office each day.

In May, Tishman West warned Marlowe that using her office as a “nursery” violated her lease, she said.

Gary Mull, building manager for Tishman West, told Marlowe that other tenants have complained that a baby’s presence in the office compromises the professional atmosphere of the “executive suites,” the top two floors of a 10-story glass office building near The City shopping center.

Marlowe, founder of the firm, contends that her office is still used for the practice of law and has not become a nursery.

Though Marlowe said she has received no complaints from fellow tenants about noise, the Women’s Law Center recently shuffled its offices to place the two infants in a corner room. The reorganization ensures that the babies’ cries will be buffered by the suite of offices Marlowe shares with her husband, attorney Richard Gilbert.

Tishman West would not comment further on the case while it is being considered by the legal department, Mull said.

Marlowe has said that child care is an “unacceptable” option and that she has no choice but to care for her child at work.

“I think it’s very important that there is a change in the views people have about raising children and what goes on in the workplace,” Marlowe said. “Just as men have changed their attitudes toward women, people will have to change attitudes about the way we care for our children. Just because a woman works doesn’t mean she should have to give up her child.”

Tishman West is required to respond to the court summons within 30 days.