The married couple who is suing Jones Day for its allegedly discriminatory parental leave policies urged a federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to reject the firm's 37-page motion to dismiss.

In their own 50-page filing, Mark Savignac and Julia Sheketoff argued that Jones Day's parental leave policies violate civil rights laws because birth mothers are offered eight weeks of paid disability leave but not fathers.

"The policy labels the extra eight weeks 'disability leave,' but the label is a sham: Jones Day gives the extra eight weeks to all mothers regardless of disability, simply because they are mothers rather than fathers. It even gives an extra eight weeks to adoptive parents, who incur no disability whatsoever," Savignac and Sheketoff wrote in their opposition to Jones Day's motion to dismiss. The couple are representing themselves in this case.

"As Jones Day's own citations—and other cases that Jones Day does not mention—confirm, that is illegal discrimination on the basis of sex," they added.

Savignac and Sheketoff sued Jones Day in August, alleging that they first complained to the firm about its parental leave policies in 2018 before their son was born. Sheketoff left Jones Day in August 2018. Savignac was fired five months later, after he sent another email seeking 18 weeks of paid leave or else he would sue and fight the issue both in court and the "court of public opinion."

The firm framed Savignac's email as a threat and grounds for termination, although the couple described Jones Day's arguments on retaliation as frivolous: "Defendants' firing of a hardworking associate with a two-week-old baby was a willful violation of those [civil rights] laws."

Neither the firm nor Savignac and Sheketoff, who are representing themselves in the case, immediately responded to requests for comment.

Jones Day is also fighting off a proposed $200 million class action that was filed by former associates who allege that the firm systemically discriminates against women lawyers. On Tuesday, the firm answered the third amended complaint filed by the plaintiffs in that case.

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