Lawsuit Investigation: Paternity Leave Discrimination

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are investigating whether class action lawsuits can be filed against employers that fail to provide equal parental leave benefits to fathers and mothers.

Specifically, it’s believed that the practice of providing male employees with less parental leave than female employees may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, prohibits discrimination against workers based on their sex.

As part of their investigation, the attorneys now want to hear from fathers who believe they may have received less parental leave than their employers provided to mothers. To share your story and learn more about what you can do, fill out the form on this page.

Are Companies Required to Provide Parental Leave to Fathers?

While some fathers may be entitled to unpaid paternity leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or state-specific parental leave benefits, there is currently no federal law that guarantees paid parental leave for non-government employees.

However, some lawsuits have argued that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—which prohibits discrimination based on a worker’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions) and national origin—employers are legally required to provide fathers with the same parental leave benefits as they provide to mothers.

For instance, in March 2023, a man filed a class action lawsuit against his former employer that claimed the company had unlawfully given him only 30 days of unpaid paternity leave after the birth of his child when its parental leave policy at the time provided “a much more generous” six weeks of fully paid maternity leave for employees “who gave birth.”

According to the suit, the company’s policy and practice of depriving fathers of an equal amount of parental leave as what was provided to mothers constituted sex discrimination and “replicated gender stereotypes about the caregiving roles of mothers and fathers.”

“By instituting and operating this discriminatory policy and practice, Defendant has intentionally treated male and female employees differently with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, in violation of Title VII,” the lawsuit argued.

The case was settled in October 2023 for an estimated $5 million, with the defendant agreeing to pay $6,000 to each non-union male employee who was denied paid paternity leave after the birth of a child. The company also agreed to maintain its gender-neutral paid parental leave policy that was implemented in January 2023.

How a Class Action Lawsuit Could Help

A successful class action lawsuit against an employer could help compensate fathers who did not receive as much paternity leave as they should have. It could also force the employer to end any unlawful discrimination in the development and application of its parental leave policy.

Are you a father who received less parental leave than your employer provided to mothers? Fill out the form on this page to find out how you may be able to help get a class action lawsuit started. After you get in touch, an attorney or legal representative may reach out to you to ask you some questions and explain more.

Before commenting, please review our comment policy.