Disney will pay $43.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by nearly 9,000 female California employees accusing the company of wage discrimination.
Under the deal, Disney will hire experts to address “significant pay disparities” using a model commissioned by attorneys representing women, the company said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in 2019, centers on claims by female employees employed by Disney since 2015 that they are paid less than male employees for essentially similar work. It is brought to you by LaRonda Rasmussen, a longtime product development manager at Walt Disney Studios, and Karen Moore, who worked for more than 20 years as a senior rights administrator at Disney’s Hollywood Records. . At the time, Disney denied allegations of pay bias across multiple divisions of the company in a class action lawsuit seeking up to $300 million.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but a settlement was reached in September. Lawyers for the plaintiffs asked for approval of the deal on Monday. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elif M. Barr is tentatively scheduled to consider the agreement at a hearing on January 10th.
“We are always committed to paying our employees fairly, and we have demonstrated that through this lawsuit. We are pleased that this matter has been resolved,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement. Ta.
Lori Andrus, the lead attorney representing the women, said in a statement that Disney is “committed to conducting an annual pay equity review to further promote pay equity.” He emphasized. She added, “We believe this will help strengthen the company and its brand as a major employer and contributor to California’s economy.”
The long-running case began last year after a judge found that a diverse group of employees worked in the company’s film production division, record label, theme parks, home distribution subsidiary, as well as in broadcast and research and development. , cleared a major hurdle. It is believed to be one of the largest groups ever to file a lawsuit under the Equal Pay Act. The group consisted of women employed by Disney at the rank of vice president or below in the April-May 2015 period, three months before the trial was scheduled to begin.
“This settlement would not have been possible without these courageous women. Thanks to them, women can expect fair treatment at Disney in the future,” said Cohen Mill, the women’s attorney. said Christine Weber, Stein’s partner. “I am hopeful that the court will move quickly to approve the settlement so that best practices are utilized and these hardworking women can move forward with confidence unencumbered by further litigation.” I guess.”
