Rotondo v. JPMorgan

In 2019, Outten & Golden and the ACLU obtained a $5 million class action settlement for 1,440 JPMorgan Chase employees who alleged that the bank’s parental leave policy discriminated against men by presuming they were not primary caregivers and thus entitled to less time off than women.

With approximately 300,000 employees worldwide, JPMorgan consistently ranks as one of the world’s largest banks.

As alleged in the complaint, JPMorgan’s parental leave policy gave new fathers just two weeks of paid time off. But new mothers received 16 weeks by default. According to a human resources representative, JPMorgan presumed women were primary caregivers, the complaint said.

Men could be classified as a primary caregiver and get up to 16 weeks if they demonstrated that their partner returned to work before 16 weeks passed or was medically unable to care for the child. Women weren’t required to make this showing.

By forcing men to meet extra requirements to get the amount of parental leave that women received by default, JPMorgan violated federal and state prohibitions on sex discrimination, the complaint alleged. Its policy perpetuated outdated gender roles and denied equal employment benefits based on sex, it said.

In addition to the financial terms, the settlement required JPMorgan to maintain a gender-neutral parental leave policy for at least four years. To ensure fair implementation, the bank pledged to train human resources staff and produce regular reports assessing its compliance.

The settlement was the first class action lawsuit to settle sex discrimination claims for a class of fathers who claim they were denied the opportunity to receive equal paid parental leave given to mothers. It helped shift corporate norms around parental leave by challenging outdated gender roles.