A former DraftKings employee is taking legal action against the company after allegedly being terminated following a parental leave request.
According to court documents filed in a Massachusetts Superior Court, Arun Venkateswaran is suing DraftKings for $250,000 in damages after being allegedly let go after attempting to take advantage of the company’s parental leave policy. Venkateswaran, a former Senior Lead Engineer, was terminated in 2023 after being hired the year prior.
Venkateswaran is taking legal action against DraftKings after completing a favorable year-end review. Following the review, Venkateswaran notified his manager that his wife was pregnant shortly before a fellow employee with similar duties resigned. The resignation occurred a month after Venkateswaran notified DraftKings of his wife’s pregnancy.
In anticipation of his child’s birth, Venkateswaran told his manager the expected September 28, 2023, due date and subsequently submitted a parental leave request for the full sixteen weeks of paid leave offered by DraftKings’ private parental leave program.
A day after submitting the request, Venkateswaran was terminated and was allegedly not provided with any written documentation explaining the reasoning for his termination. A mid-year performance rating in 2023 found Venkateswaran “partially” met high expectations while another employee on the engineer’s team received a worse mid-year review.
As a result of his termination, Venkateswaran is suing DraftKings for violations of paid leave medical retaliation/interference, sick leave retaliation, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and breach of contract. Venkateswaran has alleged his termination from DraftKings caused him to suffer adverse employment actions due to a loss of income, loss of benefits, loss of personal and professional reputation and emotional distress.
Venkateswaran claims that his parental leave request is protected under Massachusetts employment laws but believes DraftKings is acting in retaliation to his request.
Venkateswaran, represented by Boston-based law firm Duddy, Godwin & Pollard, has requested a jury trial to settle the issue. SBC Americas reached out to DraftKings for comment on the matter but the operator has yet to respond to the request.
More legal woes for DraftKings
The Boston-based company is facing its latest suit after filing a motion to dismiss a New York District Court lawsuit brought against it by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).
The motion to dismiss comes as the NFLPA claims DraftKings violated the terms of a deal to license player images for products in DraftKings’ NFT Marketplace.
DraftKings contends that the termination of its deal “exceeds the limitation of liability.”
