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◼ REMARKS Bloomberg Businessweek June 17, 2019a marketing consultant in Seattle. Magnifico is currently
pregnant; to keep working, she’s teamed up with other con-
sultants on projects that extend past her due date.
Even cases that appear to be cut and dried can turn out
to be legally complicated. In 2015 a Minnesota orthodontist’s
assistant, Nikki LaPoint, had a job offer rescinded after she
told the orthodontist she was pregnant. In court, LaPoint
produced voicemails in whichthedoctoraskedwhyshe
didn’t mention her pregnancyduringherjobinterview,
which she didn’t legally havetodo.“Andwhenwewentinto
discovery we also found that[thedoctor]wrote,‘Pregnant?’
with a question mark, on theapplication,”addsSteveSmith,
LaPoint’s lawyer. “Rarely doyougetthatkindofdirectevi-
dence of discrimination.” ButtheMinnesotaSupremeCourt
didn’tseeit thatway.It determinedthatLaPointlosther
joboffernotbecauseofherpregnancy,butbecauseofher
requestfor 12 weeks of unpaidmaternityleave,towhichshe
wasn’t legally entitled.
The cumulative effect ofsideliningpregnantemployees
damps their economic power.Youseeit inwomen’saver-
age earnings relative to men.IntheU.S.,womenandmen
with the same educationalbackgroundandlevelofexpe-
rience start their careers earningaboutthesamesalary.
But by the time they hit their30s,women’searningshave
fallen behind. “It’s particularlybadamongmarriedmen
and women, which indicatesthatsomethingisgoingon
beyond just women’s slowerpromotionsingeneral,”says
Sari Kerr, an economist atWellesleyCollege.“Ifyounar-
row down more finely, you findwomenwithyoungchildren
really start lagging down inearnings.”Severalrecentstud-
ies published by the NationalBureauofEconomicResearch
estimate that when womenhavekidstheirlifetimeearnings
drop 14% to 33%.
Few of the recently passedabortionrestrictionsinthe
South and Midwest came withmaternityleaveprovisions.
Alabama has all but bannedabortionbutguaranteeswomen
nopaidorunpaidleave.Instead,thestatereliesonthe
FamilyandMedicalLeaveAct,a federallawthatgrants
employees 12 weeks of unpaidleavebutappliesonlytofull-
time workers who’ve beenemployedata largecompany
for more than a year. WomeninAlabamaonaveragemake
about 24% less than men.
Men don’t face this financialpenalty.Instead,theybenefit
when they have kids. “We actuallyseea salarybump,”Kerr
says. But there’s a flip side tothisfatherhoodbonus.When
men become fathers, they’reexpectedtokeepworkingas
long or as hard as before. Fewerthan20%ofmenintheU.S.
get any kind of paternal leaveaftertheyhavekids.Byforc-
ing new fathers to keep working,companiesareeffectively
leaving women to navigatetheearliestdaysofparenthood
on their own. Even the mostegalitariancouplesfindthem-
selves falling back on traditionalgenderrolesthatarehard
to break after a mother returnstowork.JPMorganChase
& Co. recently settled a lawsuitbya maleemployeewho
was denied the company’s 16 weeks of paid parental leavebecause,thebanksaid,hiswifewasthe“primarycaregiver,”
nothim.JPMorgan’spolicy,likethoseofmanycompanies,is
gender-neutralonpaperyetstillassumesthatfamilieshavea
“primary”parentwho’sgoingtobedoingmostofthework.
AccordingtotheBureauofLaborStatistics,89%ofmarried
womenstilldothemajorityofthehousework,cooking,and
childcareregardlessofwhatkindofjobtheyhold.Juggling
allthatmeanswomencan’tputinthekindof80-hourwork-
weeksa placelikeJonesDayexpects,sofewerofthemmake
partner.Ofcourse,there’sa differencebetweenacknowledg-
inga problemandactivelymakingit worse.
Givingmentheoptiontotakeparentalleavewouldbea
stepintherightdirectionbuta smallone.In1974,Sweden
becamethefirstcountrytoreplaceitsnationalmaternity
leaveprogramwitha gender-neutralonethatofferednew
parentssixmonthstodivideastheysawfit.Mendidn’ttake
leave;90%ofthemletthemothertakeallsixmonths.Soin
1995,Swedenbeganexperimentingwithrulesthatrequired
mentotaketimeoffafterthebirthofa child.Thingsstill
aren’tequal,butasof 2014 mostSwedishfathersweretaking
atleastsomeleave,anda quarterweretakingtheentirety
oftheirallottedthreemonths.
Ofcourse,Sweden’ssixmonthsofparentalleavecan’tdo
muchabouttheother17½yearsit takestoraisea child.Even
withgovernment-fundedchildcare,1 inevery 3 womenin
Swedendropstopart-timeworkafterherfirstchildand
staysatthatlevelforabout 10 years. As a result, the coun-
try still has a pay gap: Women there make 88% of what men
do, compared with 80% in the U.S.
Tolton has left Jones Day, but she’s still a full-time law-
yer. She’s now practicing commercial litigation at a boutique
firm—one she says is supportive of both her life as a work-
ing mother and her decision to file a discrimination lawsuit.
When she left Jones Day, she says, other female associates
approached her to ask why. Had she just burned out? Gotten
a less demanding job? They too had run the numbers on the
looming career-vs.-family equation and realized there just
weren’t enough hours in the day for them to do both. “I was
honest about what happened,” Tolton says. “I said my sal-
ary was frozen after my maternity leave, and they told me
to find another job.” She says that when her bosses found
out what she said, they called her at home and told her to
never come into the office again. They would clean out her
desk and send any personal items. “It was, I just ...” Tolton
can’t quite find the words. “I mean, my diplomas were still
on the walls.” <BW>“I can’t walk into a meeting for
a six-month contract and be six
months pregnant. I don’t think
anyone would hire me”