12-04-2024
In 2019, Disney employee LaRonda Rasmussen filed a lawsuit asserting that the company paid her less than her six male coworkers in the same role. One of those men allegedly earned $20,000 more than her. She brought the gender discrimination suit under the California Equal Pay Act. The suit became a class action as 9,000 current and former female employees joined. These women were all non-union, salaried employees who worked at Disney’s theme parks, cruise ships, and film and TV studios. None of the employees worked at ESPN, Pixar, Hulu, Fox, or FX.
The suit alleged that Disney engaged in an “enterprise-wide compensation policy” of paying women less than men “in part because Disney would base starting pay on prior salary, which historically includes gender-based disparities.” A labor economist who studied human resources data on Disney employees from 2015 to 2022 found that women at Disney were paid approximately two percent less than similarly situated men, with percentages varying across different positions. Disney fought the lawsuit, arguing that it was impossible to accurately compare the various skills and experience levels across the numerous jobs.
Disney disputed the economist’s conclusions, asserting that it has “always been committed to paying [its] employees fairly.” However, the company agreed to use it as a basis for apportioning the settlement amount distribution. A court must approve the settlement. The plaintiffs’ attorneys can seek to have up to one-third of the settlement amount ($14.4 million) to cover legal fees. Disney agreed to hire an outside industrial consultant to train employees on benchmarking pay levels. In addition, a labor economist will continue to work for the company for the next three years to analyze its pay data.