Fathers Denied Paid Parental Leave by J.P. Morgan Chase File Sex Discrimination Complaint with EEOC

CLEVELAND – The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio and the employment law firm Outten & Golden LLP today filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a J.P. Morgan Chase employee who claims the company discriminated against him and other fathers by denying fathers paid parental leave on the same terms as mothers.

Derek Rotondo, who filed the class action charge, is a fraud investigator who has worked at J.P. Morgan since 2010. He asserts that J.P. Morgan discriminates against men by designating biological mothers as the default primary caregivers, eligible for 16 weeks of paid parental leave, while presumptively considering fathers to be non-primary caretakers, who are eligible for just two weeks of paid parental leave. Rotondo is the father of two young children, including a two-year old and a newborn just nine days old.

"When I found out how J.P. Morgan’s parental leave policy was actually implemented, I was shocked," said Rotondo. "It was like something out of the 1950s. Just because I’m a father, not a mother, it shouldn’t prevent me from being the primary caregiver for my baby. I hope that J.P. Morgan will change this policy and show its support for all parents who work for the company."

Rotondo’s charge — which he filed on behalf of all fathers who were or will be subjected to the same discriminatory policy — alleges that J.P. Morgan’s parental leave policy violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Ohio Fair Employment Practices Act, and other state and local laws that prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on sex or sex-based stereotypes.

"J.P. Morgan’s parental leave policy is outdated and discriminates against both moms and dads by reinforcing the stereotype that raising children is women’s work, and that men’s work is to be the breadwinner," said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project. "J.P. Morgan needs to make its family leave policy reflect the realities of modern families working in America today."

Before the birth of his second child, Rotondo sought approval to take parental leave as the primary caregiver. But J.P. Morgan’s human resources told Rotondo that mothers are considered to be primary caregivers, and that fathers can only be treated as primary caregivers (and receive 16 weeks of paid parental leave) if they can demonstrate that their spouse or partner has returned to work, or that “the mother” is medically incapable of caring for the child. Rotondo does not qualify under either of these exceptions, as his wife is a special education teacher on summer break and unable to return to work, and she is in good health.

"Paid parental leave is crucial for both parents, and when corporations like J.P. Morgan Chase push men to stay at work, they’re effectively pushing women to stay at home," said Freda Levenson, Legal Director for the ACLU of Ohio.

Rotondo’s sex discrimination charge asks the EEOC to investigate all of his legal claims on a class-wide basis. He is seeking changes to the company’s parental leave policy to make it equitable between mothers and fathers, as well as monetary relief for him and other fathers who have lost out on paid leave due to J.P. Morgan’s discriminatory policy.

"It is long past the time that American companies implement parental leave policies that comply with federal law and treat men and women equally. All parents, regardless of their sex, deserve fair paid leave so they can bond with their babies," said Peter Romer-Friedman, an Outten & Golden civil rights attorney. Romer-Friedman represented Josh Levs, a former CNN reporter who challenged CNN’s alleged failure to give paid parental leave to biological fathers on equal terms as biological mothers. Levs settled his charge in 2015.

The charge can be found here:
https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/eeoc-charge-derek-rotondo

More information about the case can be found here:
https://www.aclu.org/cases/jp-morgan-chase-eeoc-complaint