Transit worker denied paternity leave after boy stillborn

An NYC Transit worker about to become a first-time father instead found himself in the gut-wrenching position of needing his paid parental leave to grieve his stillborn son.

But to Reinaldo Lopez’s distress, the MTA denied him his two weeks off for paternity leave after he and his wife’s hopes to start a family tragically fell apart — and ordered him back to work after three days.

Lopez’s wife, Elyse Ortiz, was eight months pregnant with a boy in late January when she stopped feeling her baby kick in her belly. The couple went to the doctor Feb. 1, and found out the baby had no heartbeat.

Ortiz gave a natural birth to a stillborn child that night.

“We were devastated,” said Lopez. “You feel like you should get some kind of reward from putting all that effort into a natural birth, which is holding your baby and hearing them cry.”

The couple (photo) named their stillborn son Sylas.

Lopez, 33, requested paid family leave, but was denied by his supervisors. He said his representatives at Local 100 helped him get his vacation days moved around so he could spend time grieving with his wife.

“I wasn’t ready to go back to work. Bills need to be paid, but mentally it’s too recent,” said the three-year transit veteran. “You’re operating a train through tracks that sometimes are being worked on, there’s people there trying to flag you down. A lot of crazy stuff can happen when your mind is not where it’s supposed to be operating a train.”

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave Lopez three days of bereavement leave, the standard for workers who experience a death in their family.

But then Lopez dug into New York State law and the MTA’s new contract with his union, Transport Workers Union Local 100. Both promised two weeks’ paid family leave for new parents.

“We were reading up on the transit rules, and all it says about paternal leave is that you just need to have a birth,” said Lopez. “Nowhere in the literature does it states that you will not be entitled to paternity leave if the baby is stillborn.”

The MTA board ratified a new contract with Local 100 last month — but the provision to implement the two weeks of paid family leave included in the agreement is still being negotiated, agency officials said.

“As an organization and as colleagues of Mr. Lopez, we are very sorry for his family’s loss,” said MTA spokesman Tim Minton. “The MTA is a compassionate employer that encourages employees to take advantage of the many programs we have for employees who are going through difficult situations.”

But Lopez and Local 100 officials do not feel they’re asking for much — and want transit officials to stand by their promises. They’ve filed a grievance with the agency.

“We’re asking for some human compassion here. We’re talking about two weeks’ pay,” said Zach Arcidiacono, head of Local 100’s train operators division. “We’re in a climate right now, we saw this in our contract fight, where the authority is under this mandate from these consultants, and they don’t want to pay out when they don’t think they have to.”