According to reports from WWWN, a South African man is suing the government for equal rights after he was denied money for maternity leave.
The man from Durban, married his lover, and the two decided to have a baby via surrogacy.
However, the man who was denied maternity leave, has taken the South African government employers to Labour Court.
The man claimed that he was discriminated against when he was denied full maternity leave after he and his partner decided to become parents.
His employers told him that paid maternity leave of four months apply only to women. The man was granted only four days off from work for “family responsibility leave,” which is granted to fathers of new babies.
When the man took the matter to the director of human resources, he was granted two months maternity leave as any foster parent would get.
The man decided to sue the government for the rights to have the full four months of maternity leave.
He told the court it was discrimination because of his gender. In addition to the maternity leave, the gay man is seeking damages of R400,000 ($36,500).