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Pregnancy, Family & Caregiving Rights

No one should have to choose between their job and their responsibilities at home. We’re here to help you care for your family and yourself—and protect your job.

Whether you’re growing your family, helping a loved one who’s aging, ill, or disabled, or managing your own health, you have the right to be treated fairly at work.

 

Workplace policies and practices aren’t always designed with families in mind. Employers may deny accommodations, retaliate against leave requests, or penalize workers for pregnancy and caregiving duties outside of work.

These challenges don’t just affect workers with young children. You deserve support so you can take care of your health or serve as a caregiver for a disabled family member, a loved one with a serious health condition, or an aging parent.

If you haven’t gotten the accommodations you need to take care of your family, it’s more than unfair; it’s often illegal. Federal, state, and local laws protect workers from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, family, and medical responsibilities.

Outten & Golden is a national leader in fighting for workers’ rights in these areas. Through our individual and class action practices, we represent employees who have been denied leave, pushed out after announcing a pregnancy, punished for caring for a loved one, or treated unfairly because of their family responsibilities.

If something doesn’t feel right, you don’t have to navigate it alone. We’re ready to help.

Framing the Issue

  • Baby-bonding leave isn’t just for mothers. Since 1965, fathers have nearly tripled the time they spend caring for children, and working fathers are now just as likely as mothers to have difficulty managing family responsibilities. 
  • Women often pay a “motherhood penalty” at work. This discriminatory penalty can reveal itself in a number of ways, including lower salaries, poorer evaluations, and less opportunities for advancement.
  • The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ensures time off to bond with a new child and care for yourself or a family member when ill. When you return, you’re entitled to your job or a role with comparable pay and benefits.
  • Where you work affects your rights because state laws vary. Thirteen states and Washington, D.C. require paid leave, and 10 more states have an opt-in leave program. 
  • Eight in 10 pregnant workers work until one month before their child’s birth. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and other laws provide critical protections from discrimination and retaliation.
  • To support your physical and mental well-being, the law requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related health conditions, like breaks or a place to sit. Time and space for lactation are also required.
  • Working while caring for an aging adult or someone with a chronic medical condition can cause stress, burnout, and mental health challenges. Having flexibility and understanding at work can lessen the burden.

Notable Matters

  • Secured a $5 million settlement for men who were discriminated against by JPMorgan Chase’s parental leave policy, working with co-counsel the American Civil Liberties Union.
  • Obtained a $2.8 million settlement for Raley’s supermarket workers who alleged they were denied reasonable pregnancy accommodations, in partnership with co-counsel Equal Rights Advocates and the Liu Law Firm
  • Representing a chief financial officer who alleged that her company ousted and replaced her with a less qualified man after she became pregnant with her first child.
  • Secured a favorable exit package for a senior associate at an Am Law 200 law firm who was fired right before she was scheduled to return from maternity leave.
  • Represented a compliance officer at a private equity firm in her pregnancy, parental leave, and retaliation claims and secured a separation package that was more than $500,000 greater than its initial offer.
  • Secured a favorable settlement for a female investment fund manager who was fired immediately after her employer discovered she was pregnant.
  • Secured a seven-figure settlement for female tech executive after she was fired during her parental leave.
  • Represented dozens of employees who were fired during or after taking parental or family leave in layoff by major tech company.

Has this happened 

to you? 

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Have you been asked inappropriate questions about your plans to have children or your current family situation?

Your workplace should support your family needs. We can help.

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