COLUMBUS, Ohio — A civil rights group says JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by male employees who say they were denied additional paid parental leave between 2011 and 2017.
The American Civil Liberties Union and law firm Outten & Golden announced the settlement Thursday.
Chase employee Derek Rotondo filed an equal opportunity claim in 2017 when he tried to get 14 additional paid weeks after his son was born. He was told by Chase that while mothers are eligible for 16 weeks as primary caregivers, non-primary caregivers were only eligible for two weeks.
The resolution is the "first class-action lawsuit to settle discrimination claims for a class of fathers who claim they were denied the opportunity to receive equal paid parental leave given to mothers," the ACLU said in a statement.
The Chase policy was always gender neutral but was updated after the lawsuit to make that clear.
A Chase spokesman welcomed the agreement and thanked Rotondo for raising the issue.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement in this matter and look forward to more effectively communicating the policy so that all men and women employees are aware of their benefits," Reid Broda, associate general counsel at JPMorgan, stated. "We thank Mr. Rotondo for bringing the matter to our attention."
"I'm proud that since I filed my charge, Chase has clarified its policy to ensure that both male and female employees who wish to be the primary parental caregiver have equal access to those benefits," Rotondo said in a statement to CBS News.
The Associated Press & CBS News contributed to this report.
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