--- title: The History of Paternity Leave: This Man Made It Happen description: Meet the father of paternity leave canonical: https://time.com/3916437/paternity-leave-gary-ackerman/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-10T18:49:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:57.298Z article:section: History og:title: Meet the Father of Paternity Leave og:description: Before Richard Branson, there was Gary Ackerman og:url: https://time.com/3916437/paternity-leave-gary-ackerman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81d247251c1a2a79/698853f6cd68489a320a04b8/gary-ackerman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1531 og:image:height: 861 og:image:alt: Gary Ackerman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Father of Paternity Leave twitter:description: Before Richard Branson, there was Gary Ackerman twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81d247251c1a2a79/698853f6cd68489a320a04b8/gary-ackerman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Father of Paternity Leave > Sponsored content. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Emma Watson - He For She - Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Emma Watson - He For She - Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0clamGjK.m3u8) (0:23)  _Published 2014-09-22. Emma Watson -He For She- Speech_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 10, 2015 6:49 PM UTC  Congressman Gary Ackerman, D-NY, on Nov. 9, 2004. Congressman Gary Ackerman, D-NY, on Nov. 9, 2004.Bassem Tellawi—AP  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 10, 2015 6:49 PM UTC **Correction appended, June 11, 2015** This week, the man most celebrated for his impact on paternity leave policies is Richard Branson: the Virgin founder [made news](http://time.com/money/3916075/richard-branson-paternity-leave-facebook/) by announcing that some employees at Virgin Management would be eligible for a full year of paid new-dad time off. Almost exactly 45 years ago, a very different man—a teacher, not an executive—was the one making strides for paternity leave. His name was Gary Ackerman, and he was a teacher in New York City who had a daughter in late 1969\. When his daughter was about 10 months old, he applied for a leave (without pay) for childcare purposes. As a resulting [lawsuit](http://www.leagle.com/decision/1974646372FSupp274%5F1606) laid out, the principal did not recommend to the district that Ackerman’s application be approved; unsurprisingly, the superintendent followed suit by not approving the leave. Ackerman tried to appeal the decision several ways, and was told by many people that the childcare leave policies of the Board of Education only applied to female teachers. As TIME later [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1973-01-22/page/53/), “\[t\]urned down, he went AWOL from his job, \[and\] with his wife Rita filed a complaint of discrimination with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sued the board in U.S. district court. Their argument: granting child-care leaves only to women is an invasion of privacy because it forces mothers to be housekeepers and child rearers and prevents husbands and wives from dividing up family responsibilities as they see fit.” In 1973, the EEOC, TIME continued, “found that the mothers-only rule ‘discriminates against male teachers as a class.’ As a result, the board says it will reword its bylaws to ensure equal rights for fathers.” That autumn, the relevant section of the Board of Ed bylaws was amended so that it no longer referred to an affected teacher as “her” or relied on the timing of the teacher’s pregnancy, thus expanding its relevancy to fathers and to adoptive parents. The determination is widely [regarded](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/paternity-leave-gary-ackerman%5Fn%5F3455866.html) as the groundbreaking first step toward paternity leave’s existence. Just how groundbreaking was it? Ackerman’s motion to have a lawsuit he filed against the Board of Ed (separate from the EEOC case) considered as a class-action suit was denied because, though 40% of the Board of Ed’s teachers were men, he was the first male teacher ever—and one of two in total—to apply for childcare leave before that 1973 change. According to a New York _Times_ [article](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=9F07E0DE1531EF34BC4E53DFB7668388669EDE) about the EEOC’s decision, at the time about 2,000 to 3,000 female teachers took a maternity leave in the city each year. Ackerman was eventually [denied](http://www.leagle.com/decision/1974463387FSupp76%5F1451.xml/ACKERMAN%20v.%20BOARD%20OF%20EDUCATION%20OF%20CITY%20OF%20NEW%20YORK) compensation in his suit, because he had already stopped teaching and the relevant bylaw had already been changed, but that doesn’t mean his story came to an end. Though his first job after leaving teaching was at a local newspaper, he soon transitioned to a life in politics. Elected to the state senate in 1979, he went on to serve in Congress for three decades, until [January of 2013](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/opinion/my-last-day-in-congress.html). **_Correction:_** _The original version of this article misstated how long Gary Ackerman served in Congress. 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