Most of the time on maternity leave is typically unpaid. If I understand correctly, this guy refused to take leave on reduced pay.
Grandparent specifically mentioned paid leave. As far as I know, many companies are now switching to 12-24 week paid leave models for maternity/paternity leave.
Everywhere I've worked in the last 10+ years has paid maternity leave and most now have paid paternity leave. They offered him unpaid leave.