Parental Discrimination Laws

A recent Chicago case underscores the need for every employer to be familiar with local anti-discrimination ordinances, as well as state and federal law.

An Illinois employer was recently forced to pay more than $300,000 for parental discrimination against a working mother. The award included $87,000 in attorney fees and $100,000 in damages.

A local Chicago ordinance prohibits employment discrimination against parents. While many municipalities have such laws, employers have shown little concern for them in the past, because monetary awards under such laws were rare.

In the Chicago case, a 39-year-old working mother of two employed by a healthcare company was paid a lower commission than salespeople without children. The woman claims she was ignored during sales meetings.

In addition, the employer was more flexible about the days and hours that single employees worked. For example, the employer would allow single employees to take the day off for personal business or a family event, or due to a hangover. For example, the company allowed one single female employee to take time off to have furniture delivered to her home.

However, when the working mother took a day off to care for her 4-year-old daughter’s minor illness, she was terminated due to absenteeism – in spite of the fact that her overall attendance record was better than that of many single salespeople who were not disciplined.

Federal and state laws do not prohibit discrimination against parents in the workplace. However, the city of Chicago has such an ordinance, enforced by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

The employee the employer sued and won.  Although the Chicago law was passed in the early 1990s, this was the first time the parental discrimination statute was tested.

There is no specific federal law that prohibits discrimination against parents. Often, such cases are investigated by the EEOC as sex discrimination, since usually working mothers – but not working fathers – are the targets of discrimination. In other cases, the discrimination is reversed – an employer is tolerant of a working mother who stays home to care for a sick child, but not a working father.

However, the EEOC has warned of an increase in complaints that employees are the targets of unfair treatment due to care giving responsibilities.

For the present, employers should simply be aware of all laws, including anti-discrimination laws in municipalities where they operate.