Employers on Notice After Estée Lauder Parental Leave Settlement

A recent $1.1 million EEOC settlement with Estée Lauder Companies over disparate parental leave practices raises the stakes for companies that provide the benefit.

The EEOC said this is the first case it can identify involving discrimination in providing paternal leave for new fathers. The agency argued that by providing longer leave for “primary caregivers” than for “secondary caregivers,” and allowing for different return-to-work policies—such as offering modified work schedules to new mothers and not new fathers—Estée Lauder engaged in sex discrimination. In a case still pending, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the EEOC when JP ...