A judge has allowed a class action lawsuit against Disney to move forward. This suit claims that Disney pays women less than their male counterparts by about 2-2.5%. Under the California Equal Pay Act, it is illegal to pay workers less for similar work due to gender.
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $150 million in lost wages. With damages, that amount could end up closer to $300 million. Female Disney employees who worked in California from April 1, 2015 who were in non-union positions that were below a vice president level, and who were assigned to a job family and level at the company can be included.
This suit would include cast members from Disneyland theme parks, hotels, Disney films, Disney television, Disney Cruise Line, ABC, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and others. Female employees of ESPN, Hulu, FX, or Fox are not eligible for this class action lawsuit.
The suit was started back in 2019 by Walt Disney Studios employees LaRonda Rasmussen and Karen Moore. They were later joined by eight other women a few months later. Now it seems that around 9,000 women may be eligible to join the lawsuit.
Disney has of course, denied these claims, and a spokesperson said:
“We are disappointed with the court’s ruling as to the Equal Pay Act claims and are considering our options.”
According to Variety Disney’s attorney, Felicia Davis, claimed in court that it would be hard to compare salaries as there are many job titles under a job family to compare.
“Davis argued that just because two employees are in the same job family and level, that does not mean their work is “substantially similar.” She rattled off a long list of job titles — music producers, pastry chefs, nurses, architects, ride engineers, visual effects directors, security dog handlers, Star Wars social media managers — to argue that the class members were too diverse to merit certification.”
It should be easy enough to compare jobs within the company. A female nurse to a male nurse, a female chef to a male chef, etc. However, Davis argues that locations and other factors could also influence the pay rates.
“These are different segments, different business areas, in different locations. They report to different managers. They are in completely different industries which pay completely differently.”
Davis would not offer comment outside of the courtroom.
The next step is a status conference that has been scheduled for February 9, 2024. A trial date will likely occur sometime in October 2024.
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Source: Variety
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