Opinion ID: 792662
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Biological Fathers v. Adoptive Parents

Text: 23 The Parental Leave Policy's classification allowing adoptive parents to use accrued sick leave does not discriminate on the basis of gender. It provides exactly the same benefits to adoptive fathers as to adoptive mothers. Nonetheless, Johnson argues that the policy is unlawful because it extends benefits to adoptive parents but not to biological fathers. To analyze the merits of this claim we must first determine the requisite level of scrutiny. 24 Johnson contends that the policy should be reviewed with strict scrutiny because it interferes with his fundamental rights of child-rearing. Although the Supreme Court has recognized a number of fundamental rights concerning parents' ability to raise their children, Johnson offers no precedent establishing that these rights include the ability to take time off from work to bond with a child. Furthermore, Johnson was allowed to take unpaid leave in accordance with the Family Medical Leave Act. He sued the University because he was unable to receive paid leave. The United States Supreme Court has defined fundamental rights as those rights that are deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition. Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494, 503, 97 S.Ct. 1932, 52 L.Ed.2d 531 (1977). The ability to get paid leave from an employer does not fall into this category. 25 Because biological fathers are not a suspect class and because the right to paid leave is not fundamental, the appropriate standard of review is the rational basis test. Clayton v. White Hall Sch. Dist., 875 F.2d 676, 680 (8th Cir.1989) (upholding a school district's policy of allowing the children of administrative employees, but not general employees, to open enroll into the district). A classification reviewed under this standard will be upheld if it has some reasonable basis. Id. Adoptive parents face demands on their time and finances that may be significantly greater than those faced by biological parents. For example, the benefits of the University's health insurance plan offset the medical costs arising when an employee or an employee's spouse gives birth. Adoptive parents receive no such insurance benefit to offset the costs of adoption. Adoptive parents may also be required to take time off from work to deal with adoption-related administrative concerns prior to the arrival of the child. 5 Johnson may be correct that the distinctions between adoptive fathers and biological fathers are minimal. However, [t]he process of classifying persons for benefits inevitably requires that some persons with nearly equal claims will be placed on different sides of the line, and whether the line might have been better drawn is a matter for legislative, rather than judicial, consideration. Id. at 680. Accordingly, we find that the policy provisions granting benefits to adoptive parents, like those provisions giving benefits to biological mothers, are not unlawful.