Ace Breaking News – Disney settles equal pay lawsuit with 9,000 current and former female employees
In short:
Disney has agreed to pay nearly $67 million to settle a lawsuit in California about equal pay between its male and female employees.
9,000 current and former female employees joined the suit against Disney where they alleged men earned $230 million more than women counterparts over an eight year period.
What’s next?
As part of the settlement, Disney has agreed to retain a labour economist for three years to analyse pay equity.
The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $US43.3 million ($67 million) to settle a lawsuit over equal pay in California.
It was alleged that Disney’s female employees in California earned $230 million less than their male counterparts over an eight-year period.
The suit was originally filed by LaRonda Rasmussen in 2019, after she learned that six men with the same job title earned substantially more than her.
She learned that one man with several years less experience, was earning over $30,000 a year more than she did, her lawyers said.
“I strongly commend Ms Rasmussen and the women who brought this discrimination suit against Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies in the world,” Lori Andrus, a partner at Andrus Anderson, said in a statement.
“They risked their careers to raise pay disparity at Disney.”
Some 9,000 current and former female employees of the entertainment company eventually joined the suit.
Previously, Disney had disputed the lawsuit’s allegations and findings. (Reuters: Dado Ruvic/File)normal
Disney attempted to stop the class action, but a judge ruled last December that it could proceed, Andrus Anderson, one of the law firms, said at the time.
Previously, Disney had disputed the lawsuit’s allegations and findings. It has not provided a comment on the settlement.
The case was also supported by an analysis of Disney’s human resource data from April 2015 until December 2022.
It found female Disney employees were paid roughly 2 per cent less than their male counterparts.
The analysis was conducted by David Neumark, a University of California Irvine professor and labour economist.
As part of the settlement, Disney has agreed to retain a labour economist for three years to analyse pay equity among full-time, non-union California employees below the vice president level, and address differences, the three law firms representing the plaintiffs said.
The settlement agreement, which was filed in a California state court, still requires approval by a judge, according to the lawyers.
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