The Kyte Baby CEO’s Actions Were a Disaster — and Perfectly Legal

“Terrible decision, insensitive and selfish” are words leaders should hope they never need to say. But those were the words that Kyte Baby founder Ying Liu used to describe her own behavior after the company terminated an employee named Marissa Hughes. 

What happened does seem terrible, insensitive, and selfish, but it was also 100 percent legal. Here’s what happened.

Hughes adopted a baby, Judah, who was hours away from Hughes’ home and workplace. Judah was born early, had medical complications, and was in the NICU. Hughes asked to work remotely, and Kyte Baby offered two weeks of parental leave. However, she had to agree to stay at Kyte Baby for at least six months after the leave to avoid repayment.

Liu denied the request to work from home and terminated Hughes when she didn’t sign or return to work. Here’s why this was legal.

The new mom wasn’t eligible for FMLA

Hughes hadn’t been with Kyte Baby for 12 months and was therefore not eligible for FMLA, the Family and Medical Leave Act. If she had been, she would have been entitled to 12 weeks of bonding leave. Parents–including adoptive and foster parents–are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to bond with their new babies (or older children, in the case of fostering and adoption), so long as they meet the qualifications for FMLA. These are: 

• 12 months of employment with the company (this time does not have to be consecutive) 

• Worked 1,250 hours in the past 12 months

• The company has to have 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius

Companies aren’t required to provide protected leave–which means leaves of absence where the employee is entitled to return to the same or equal position–if the employee doesn’t qualify.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act doesn’t apply either

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act went into effect in 2023, providing additional rights for expectant and new moms. But because Hughes adopted her baby, she was not pregnant and not covered by this act.

Under the PWFA, companies have to grant “reasonable accommodations” for “known limitations” of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions unless doing so would be an “undue hardship.” But it doesn’t apply to the baby itself–just to mom. 

If Hughes had given birth instead of adopting, Kyte Baby would have had to provide a reasonable accommodation of time off work to recover. This would have allowed her to stay with her baby. 

ADA doesn’t apply either

The Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t apply to employees’ children, only to the employees themselves. Even though a fragile baby in the NICU was in desperate need of help, the ADA doesn’t protect parental jobs when it’s the children who need help.

Overall, employment attorney Jeff Nowak explains, “this employee seemingly is in that sliver of a category of people not protected by law after a child is placed with her for adoption.”

The law is a floor, not a ceiling

As Kyte Baby learned–rather painfully–doing the legal thing doesn’t necessarily mean doing the right thing. You can always be more generous with your employees. There’s no requirement to let an employee work remotely, which Hughes asked for. But not doing so can have negative consequences for your business.

Remember, any employee can go viral. Most won’t, but it’s always a possibility. Kyte Baby isn’t the only company that would have followed the letter of the law and said no to Hughes. Many people cite a 2012 study that said 25 percent of new moms must return to work within two weeks of giving birth, although that figure is probably incorrect; it was based only on women who were working when they gave birth. But it’s absolutely true that some women have to return quickly after giving birth, something the PWFA hopes to fix–but it falls short in regard to adopted babies.

While you may say you cannot afford to give additional time off to people when the law does not require it, think about the cost to Kyte Baby of this money-saving decision. Always ask yourself: Is this the right decision, or is this just the legal decision? It’s never illegal to be kinder than the law requires, and doing so may just save you money in the long run.