Owners, Beware: Parental Discrimination Lawsuits Are on the Rise

Date: January 18, 2017

In the last decade, working parents have been increasingly—and successfully—suing employers over discrimination.

Regarding discrimination cases, sexual or racial issues tend to dominate the conversation. But, increasingly, working parents are suing their companies for parental discrimination—and winning their cases, according to The Atlantic

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Over the past decade, the number of family responsibilities discrimination lawsuits decided tripled compared to the previous decade, according to a report from the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings. 

More than half of the lawsuits—from mothers, some fathers, and those who act as caregivers to the ill or disabled—end in compensation for the victims, The Atlantic reported. 

“Employers haven’t realized that discrimination against motherhood or fatherhood can be gender discrimination,” said Cynthia Calvert, senior advisor for the Center for WorkLife Law. When it comes to working mothers, she said, they’re overlooked for challenging assignments because supervisors feel they don’t want to travel or take on any extra workload. “With men, they are punished because they want to work more flexibly to take care of a child, and the employer thinks they’re not acting the way men are supposed to act,” Calvert added. 

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Big settlements have followed. Employees who filed lawsuits in the past decade received nearly $500 million in verdicts and settlements, more than double than what was awarded in the previous decade, according to the Center for WorkLife Law report. 

Changing times may be partly responsible for the increase, especially as the workforce has seen an influx of working parents. In 1960, around 25 percent of households with children had both parents working. In 2012, that number jumped to 60 percent. 

Companies are “starting to pay more attention to potential parental discrimination,” Calvert told The Atlantic. “[P]reventative training around the issue will one day become normal.”

Related:

The Unintended Consequences of Paid Family Leave

Trump’s Paid Leave Plan: Will It Hurt Small Businesses?

Time Management Tips: Balancing a Home-Based Business and Family

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