This case has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, but it's never too late to point out how Time Warner has bumbled its way into an unnecessarily unfair, even discriminatory parental leave policy, and the obvious, right thing to do would be to just even it out.
Josh Levs, who is a CNN person I don't know, because cable news, has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because his company gives literally every type of new parent except biological dads 10-12 weeks of paid parental leave. Biological dads like himself get two.
Josh's own statement on his tumblr is lucid and logical and infuriating.
If I gave my child up for adoption, and some other guy at Time Warner adopted her, he would get 10 weeks off, paid, to take care of her. I, however, her biological father, can't.The Times' report on the case, and the law that applies to it, is more circumspect about Levs' chances in court.I have tried repeatedly to get Time Warner to see the light of day on this, but the company refuses.
Make no mistake: The policy is discriminatory. The only question is whether it's a legal form of discrimination.
But the whole point is, this is a nominally advanced, sophisticated company with highly educated professional employees, in New York Freakin' City in 2013, and it just seems like skilled lawyers and thoughtful, reasonable HR people should be able to get their equal, fair parenting sh*t together by now. Or at least, a media giant should be able to manage the PR ridiculousness that comes from a discrimination lawsuit that shouldn't need to exist.
Why I've filed an EEOC charge against Time Warner [joshlevs.tumblr.com]
Standing Up for the Rights of New Fathers [nyt]
