Deloitte is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations of putting employees who have taken parental leave at a disadvantage in comparison to those who haven’t, and the case is an interesting one for HR teams to keep an eye on. According to the Barela v. Deloitte Consulting LLP case, the company bases its annual performance ratings and resulting rewards on an employee’s target achievements in comparison to their peers.
This isn’t a problematic strategy by itself, however, the lawsuit accuses the employer of penalizing employees who go on maternity leave by failing to account for their break and how they may have had limited time to perform to the same degree as their colleagues. These allegations, while serious, are also a reminder of the importance of careful policy planning on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation of its impact and implications.
The lawsuit accuses Deloitte of putting employees who go on parental leave at a disadvantage by stacking them against employees who don’t. (Image: Pexels)
The Deloitte Parental Leave Lawsuit Alleges That Employees Are Indirectly Punished for Taking Leave from Work
The latest class action case against Deloitte was filed by plaintiff Joanne Barela, who worked for 13 years at the company, between 2013 and December 2025. She was employed at Deloitte’s Los Angeles office, in its Human Capital Consulting practice. She took up the case on behalf of all exempt employees who worked for Deloitte in the United States within the last three years and who took parental, pregnancy, or pregnancy-disability leave, as well as a California Class of all exempt employees who did the same within the last four years.
Deloitte reportedly laid off the employee as part of an overall workforce reduction plan in December last year. She was told that she was let go due to her performance in comparison to her colleagues. The plaintiff stated that her lowered performance was linked to the parental and pregnancy-related disability leave she had relied on in the preceding years, and that she had received lower performance ratings as a result of having taken the leave.
According to her case, the system of evaluation was to blame for her lower performance ratings, as it unfairly compared her performance while she was away to that of those who did not take any extended leave.
How Is Taking Leave Affecting Performance Review Results at Deloitte?
The case states that while Deloitte has a generous leave policy of up to 16 weeks paid time off and 24 weeks of total parental leave, what it doesn’t disclose is that “employees who take parental leave are penalized for taking that leave.” Employees are not directly punished for taking leave from work, but the lawsuit alleges that, as part of its annual review process, employees who take leave are still compared to employees who have a full 12 months to reach their work goals.
As a result, employees who take parental, pregnancy, or pregnancy-disability leave allegedly receive lower performance review scores than other colleagues performing similarly well. Since yearly salary increases and bonuses are tied to annual performance review scores, employees who utilize the leave policy are reportedly at a disadvantage.
The Deloitte parental leave lawsuit, accuses the company of violating a number of employment protection laws through this practice, including the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (PDLL), the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
The FMLA Protects Employees from Being Punished for Taking Leave at Work
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a legislation that allows eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family and medical reasons and requires continuation of their group health benefits under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. Eligible employees are free to take up to 12 workweeks of leave in 12 months for pre-specified qualifying reasons, and employers are required to respect these protections and ensure workers do not face retaliation or negative repercussions from utilizing this protected benefit.
If the parental leave lawsuit succeeds in finding fault with Deloitte’s performance evaluation strategy, this could vastly reshape how other employers also structure their review policies. While employers do not necessarily have to rewrite their evaluation metrics as a requirement under the FMLA, the ruling in this case could redefine the employer’s role in ensuring that employees are not unfairly penalized for the use of maternity leave.
The Motherhood Penalty is A Real Concern for Working Women
We often discuss the glass ceiling and the motherhood penalty while talking about the challenges faced by women in the workforce. As women are more likely to have to use parental leave policies, considering their role in the family building process is unquestionable, the link between maternity leave and an unseen performance penalty needs to be studied further. There are many ways that working women, particularly those that want to start a family, are set at a disadvantage in the modern workforce.
Organizations don’t always have targeted policies to widen this disadvantage, but existing modes of operation often serve this purpose unintentionally. Deloitte recently received considerable criticism for choosing to rollback some of its benefits, including parent leave allowances, for a section of its workers. This makes the results of this parental leave lawsuit against Deloitte all the more interesting to follow.
What do you think about the lawsuit and its allegations of parental leave punishments at Deloitte? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights into the legal landscape redefining the state of employment and the future of work.
