The Walt Disney Company is facing more legal woes, after it was ruled that almost 9,000 workers can sue the entertainment giant over allegations that women have been routinely paid less than men in various roles.
On December 8, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle certified a class-action lawsuit—the largest ever certified under California's Equal Pay Act (EPA)—which prohibits employers from paying a worker less than someone of another gender or race.
Originally filed in April 2019, the lawsuit covers plaintiffs who have worked in a broad variety of sectors at several companies under the Disney banner, including the music groups, film and TV studios and theme parks and hotels. Also included are workers at Marvel, ABC, Lucasfilm, and Imagineering.
Among the entities excluded from the suit are Hulu, Pixar, Fox and FX. The employees included in the lawsuit are those who have worked for the company in California in non-union positions and below vice president between April 1, 2015 and three months before trial, which is scheduled to start in October 2024. A status conference is scheduled for February 9, 2024.
In recently unsealed court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Disney challenged the class action, pointing to the company's broad range of workers whose jobs and roles can't be compared to each other.
"They're in completely different industries which pay completely differently," Disney lawyer Felicia Davis is quoted as saying in the hearing. "They're in cruise lines, technology, theme parks, marketing, television, HR, film, hotels, retail stores, finance, restaurants, legal. If you name a job, it is part of this lawsuit."
Davis further stated that certification of the class action "would be unprecedented. No discrimination or pay equity class like this has ever been certified."
However, Berle agreed with the plaintiffs' lawyer, Lori Andrus, who argued that there was "strong evidence of Disney's centralization and uniformity of its practices."
In certifying the class action, Berle said: "The class and subclass definition are clear and objective. Moreover, there's no reasonable dispute that defendants' records contain all the information necessary to identify the potential class members."
A spokesperson for Disney, which was accused of "rampant pay discrimination" by the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment in the class action decision.
"We are disappointed with the court's ruling as to the Equal Pay Act claims and are considering our options," the representative told The Hollywood Reporter.
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Disney via email for comment.
Disney has had a tumultuous year, which has included disappointing numbers at the box office, and legal action from Legends of the Fall star Julia Ormond. In October, the actor filed a lawsuit in which she accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her following a business dinner in 1995. At the time, Miramax, the production company co-founded by Weinstein, was co-owned by Disney.
While the allegations are similar to other claims made against convicted sex offender Weinstein in recent years, the lawsuit sits in unusual territory in that Ormond is also suing Creative Artists Agency (CAA), The Walt Disney Company and Miramax.
In a statement shared with Newsweek, Ormond said that after "living for decades with the painful memories of my experiences at the hands of Harvey Weinstein," she now has the opportunity "to shed light on how powerful people and institutions like my talent agents at CAA, Miramax and Disney enabled and provided cover for Weinstein to assault me and countless others."
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About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
