Employee secures $5m parental leave
settlement
An employee of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. the US Bank who had applied unsuccessfully for the 16 week Parental Leave benefit available to employees described as “the Primary Caregiver” of a child has secured a settlement of $5m against the Bank. The employee, Derek Rotondo complained that the Bank’s Parental Leave policy was biased against Fathers. Mr. Rotondo’s Lawyers claimed that the Parental Leave policy of the Bank was gender neutral on paper but not in practice.
The employee said that the Bank advised him that it assumed that the child’s birth Mother was the Primary Caregiver and because the complainant’s wife who is a Teacher was not incapacitated and had the Summer off he wouldn’t qualify for the Parental Leave benefit. The employee in bringing his claim was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with whom the complaint was filed made a distinction between Medical leave for the Mother after the birth which could be limited to the Mother and leave for caring for and bonding with the new child which it said had to be provided equally to men and women. The US does not have a National paid Parental Leave policy.
If you require any further detail or advice, please contact John Reid in O’Rourke Reid
Dial: +353 1 240 1200
Email: jreid@orourkereid.com
This document is for information purposes only and does not purport to represent legal advice.
© O’Rourke Reid 2018