by Sharelle Burt
December 27, 2023
The lawsuit, filed by metropolis worker Jeffrey Burger, claimed feminine staff had been allowed 320 hours of depart time in an effort to function a major caregiver for a new child – male staff had been solely permitted 80 hours and had been categorized as “secondary” caregivers, even when they had been major.
Town of Tampa, Florida, reached an settlement with the Division of Justice to resolve a discrimination lawsuit claiming male staff didn’t obtain the identical parental depart as feminine staff.
Based on the settlement, reached on Dec. 21, the town can pay $300,000 and supply 240 hours of credited extra depart time for male staff who had been denied the identical quantity of depart as feminine staff in 2017 and 2018. The lawsuit, filed by metropolis worker Jeffrey Burger, claimed feminine staff had been allowed 320 hours of depart time in an effort to function a major caregiver for a new child – male staff had been solely permitted 80 hours and had been categorized as “secondary” caregivers, even when they had been major.
Burger will likely be paid $60,000, and $240,000 will likely be break up amongst different eligible staff.
Assistant Lawyer Common Kristen Clarke mentioned, “This settlement sends a transparent message that in offering paid or unpaid parental depart, employers should assure that these advantages are offered with out reliance on presumptions about which dad or mum will be the first caregiver,” in accordance with The Tampa Bay Instances.
The DOJ’s grievance mentioned at the least 10 male workers who put in formal depart requests had been denied attributable to their gender whereas others had been discouraged by supervisors or Tampa HR officers from making use of as a major caregivers.
On prime of settling, Tampa will likely be compelled to undertake a brand new non-sex-discriminating parental depart coverage, however it can must be authorised by the U.S. District Court docket for the Center District of Tampa.
Upon approval, the town will likely be required to work with an officer from Equal Employment Alternative (EEO) to ensure the adjustments are carried out.
“In relation to offering depart for bonding with a brand new baby or flexibility in returning to work from that depart, moms and dads ought to be handled equally,” Tamra Schweiberger, director of the Equal Employment Alternative Fee’s Tampa subject workplace, mentioned in an announcement.
The Tampa Metropolis Council denies any wrongful discrimination towards Burger or another male workers, however says they got here to the decision to “keep away from the danger and burdens of protracted litigation.”
