Star Randolph, a La Leche League leader, was stripped of official duties after six members of her Portland-area group accused her of fraud.
Her crime? A cabinet full of Enfamil baby formula and about a dozen well-used Dr. Brown's Natural Flow bottles.
The half-dozen weekly attendees of Randolph's La Leche group meeting for nursing moms with newborns (0-6 months) filed a grievance with the LLL head offices after they discovered the formula. They're accusing Randolph of fraud and misrepresentation.
One of the moms at the meeting discovered Randolph's secret stash when she had gone into the kitchen for snacks.
From MedLaw:
"I opened the cabinet and the shelves were lined with cans of the stuff -- all of it. Soy, lacto-free, the stuff with the DH-whatever in it. I couldn't believe it!" Lana Wilson, Portland mother of an 8-week-old, said.
The women say they feel not only betrayed but misguided by Randolph, who they said was "never really that into it."
"I mean, she'd organize these meeting and send out countless reminders -- to where you felt totally obligated to go," said another of the complaintants who asked that her name not be used. "But she really couldn't help me with anything. I had sore nipples, she'd say 'fix the latch,' they'd still hurt, 'fix the latch.' I'm like, YOU fix the latch, Star, you fix it!"
In the deposition, the women claim La Leche League knowingly allowed Randolph to lead group meetings and offer advice, even though she was apparently less than dedicated to the womanly art. "I don't think I ever saw her nursing -- her baby was always 'upstairs napping.'"
Another LLL leader, who joined the nursing moms in the complaint, claimed she overheard Randolph at the statewide LLL meeting tell a convention hall organizer, "Breast is total bullshit."
LLL officials were unavailable for comment.
