A Haddonfield start-up is being sued for denying parental leave

When Alex Ciambriello started working at Haddonfield-based start-up CollX in 2022, he thought the job would be ideal for him as a parent of young children. It was a remote job, and the founder of the company had his own children, who actually came up with the idea for the company.

But after Ciambriello and his wife, Taj, welcomed their second child last year, the data engineer said, “the rug got pulled out from under us.”

First, Ciambriello’s request for parental leave was denied, so he instead “reluctantly” used his two weeks of paid time off. He then requested an emergency day off about a month later, after his wife had undergone a medical procedure, but that request was denied and he was fired shortly afterward.

“It put my family in a really awful position overnight,” Ciambriello said. “We were already living paycheck to paycheck,” and suddenly were applying for Medicaid and food stamps.

Ciambriello is now suing CollX and founder Ted Mann, alleging that they violated parental leave laws in New York state, where Ciambriello lived at the time of his second child’s birth.

“Giving birth should be a joyous and momentous occasion. But, without access to paid family leave, for many, it is instead a traumatic one,” the lawsuit, filed March 22, said. “CollX’s illegal actions robbed Ciambriello of time he will never get back: his precious early moments with his newborn.”

Mann said he believes Ciambriello was treated fairly during his time at CollX. “We have a great office culture, great family culture, great working culture,” he said.

CollX launched an app in January 2022 that can scan a trading card and quickly find out how much money it is worth. Mann has said his children gave him the idea for the app.

Ciambriello started working part-time for CollX shortly after the app launched, and got elevated to a full-time role in October. Weeks later, he told his coworkers that his wife was pregnant, due in May 2023.

The Ciambriello family lived in Philadelphia when he started the job, but moved to New York that November to be closer to family. He gave CollX a heads up about the move, he said, and understood that it wasn’t an issue because he was a remote worker.

Because of the move, Ciambriello was eligible for 12 weeks parental leave under the New York Paid Family Leave Law, according to his lawsuit, during which he would get just over $800 per week from the state and his job would be protected for him to return.

When Ciambriello submitted a leave request in January 2023, Mann said CollX was not obligated to comply with the state leave law.

Mann allegedly told Ciambriello, “Once one person takes an extended leave, everyone else begins taking more time off and it ruins the company. I would understand if you were a woman, but you’re not so we don’t see the reason to give you extended leave,” the suit said.

Ciambriello took two weeks of paid time off after his child was born by cesarean section.

A few weeks after he returned, his wife needed surgery. Ciambriello requested time off to get his wife and baby to medical appointments during that week, but his requests were denied.

“Still recovering from surgery, Taj was forced to make the trip alone with both children, repeatedly,” the lawsuit said.

Ciambriello kept up with his work while caring for his recovering wife and their children, the lawsuit said.

“But Ciambriello’s family was in a state of emergency. On June 20, even though it had not been approved, he did not work,” though he did check his phone and Slack account for messages from coworkers, the lawsuit said.

He was fired the next day.

Hilary J. Orzick, an employment lawyer representing Ciambriello, said CollX employees are not covered by the federal Family Medical Leave Act because the company has fewer than 50 employees, but the New York state law still applies.

“If you are working in New York, your employment is considered New York employment,” a state website on Paid Family Leave says. “Your employment must be localized in New York State, which means that most of your work is performed in New York, and any work performed outside the state is only incidental or temporary.”

Ciambriello is seeking damages to compensate for the company’s violation of state leave laws, as well as punitive damages based on the argument that CollX willfully ignored his rights.

“I want to make it very clear to CollX and Ted Mann the CEO that this is not OK,” Ciambriello said. “I would hope this would be enough of a wake-up call.”