Seyfarth Synopsis:
If your company provides parental leave benefits beyond what is required by law, it is important that the company's policies and practices ensure male and female employees are being treated consistent with the prohibition of discrimination based on sex.
On August 30, 2017, the EEOC filed suit against Estée Lauder in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania claiming that the cosmetic company discriminated against male employees by implementing a paid parental leave policy that provides lesser parental leave benefits to male employees than to female employees. EEOC v. Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-03897-JP (E.D. PA)
The paid parental leave policy at issue in this case–which was implemented by Estée Lauder in 2013–provides "primary caregivers" six weeks of paid parental leave for child bonding and only offers "secondary caregivers" two weeks of paid leave for child bonding. In addition, "primary caregivers" are also provided with flexible return-to-work benefits that are not similarly provided to "secondary caregivers." On its face, this policy does not appear to provide different benefits to new mothers or female employees and new fathers or male employees; however, in practice, the company only allows male employees to receive "secondary caregiver" leave benefits under this policy.
This case arose when a male employee's request for six weeks of child-bonding leave as the "primary caregiver" was denied and he was only allowed to take two weeks of bonding leave. According to the lawsuit, the company told him that the "primary caregiver" designation only applied in "surrogacy situations." The EEOC claims that the practice of only allowing men to take two weeks of paid leave, while allowing women six weeks and flexible return-to-work benefits violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
The EEOC has made it clear that addressing sex-based pay discrimination, including benefits such as paid leave, is a priority. So it is not surprising that the agency has gone after one of the world's leading cosmetic companies over this issue and this is probably not the last suit of its kind. With the rising corporate trend of providing generous parental leave benefits to employees, it is important companies who are following this trend to be mindful of their policies and potential claims of disparate treatment and/or disparate impact.
This topic has been on the horizon for some time now and the EEOC is starting to take action. If your company provides parental leave benefits beyond what is required by law, it is important that you review those policies and practices now to ensure male and female employees are being treated consistent with the prohibition of discrimination based on sex.
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