Sunday is Father’s Day. Which makes this lawsuit especially worth paying attention to.
Emilio Arellano claims that Golden State Cider fired him after he took leave and sought additional flexibility to help care for his prematurely born son.
According to the lawsuit, his employer didn’t respond with support. It responded with retaliation. The company denies wrongdoing. The case remains pending.
But the allegations highlight an issue many employers still fail to recognize:
Workplace discrimination against fathers is real.
Not because employers think fathers are caregivers. Because they think they aren’t.
When employers assume fathers should prioritize work over family, they’re relying on the same unlawful sex stereotypes that protect mothers when employers assume they should shoulder caregiving responsibilities.
The EEOC has been saying this for decades. Denying leave, flexibility, or opportunities to fathers that would be afforded to mothers can violate Title VII.
And the legal risk is increasing.
Last year, the Supreme Court held in Ames v. Department of Youth Services that Title VII protects “any individual” and that courts cannot impose higher burdens on so-called majority-group plaintiffs.
The EEOC has embraced that principle, making clear that discrimination is discrimination, regardless of who brings the claim.
That matters for fathers.
A dad who is treated differently because he doesn’t conform to traditional expectations about gender and caregiving isn’t bringing a novel claim. He’s bringing a sex discrimination claim.
Which brings us to a question every employer should ask: If this employee were a mother instead of a father, would we have responded the same way?
If the answer is no, you’ve identified a legal risk. And perhaps a cultural one, too.
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