Disney Accused of Paying Women Less Than Men: Gender Pay Class Action Filed

April 8, 2019

Two female employees are suing Walt Disney Co., alleging the company is violating the state’s equal pay act and paying women less than men doing similar work.

The class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and is covering people who worked for Walt Disney Studios in roughly the last four years.

Disney said the lawsuit was “baseless.” In a statement, the company said it maintains “robust pay equity practices and policies” and has a specialized team of compensation professionals and lawyers to address the matter. “We are confident that they [the claims] will be found to be meritless when tested against the evidence, rather than the rhetoric of the complaint.”

The lawsuit was brought by Southern California Disney employees. One woman works as a manager in product development for Disney in Glendale. In 2017, she raised the issue that she was not being compensated fairly, the lawsuit said. At the time, her base salary was $109,958. Six other men who held the same title were paid $16,000 to nearly $40,000 more, according to the lawsuit. Five months after she brought up the issue, the woman said, Disney asserted that her salary amount “was not due to gender,” but in November 2018, the company boosted her pay by $25,000, the lawsuit claims. Even with the pay adjustment, the woman believes she is still making less than men doing similar work.

The other woman works as a senior copyright administrator in the Disney Music Group in Burbank. She says she was discouraged from applying for a manager position that was later changed to a senior manager role and given to a man. The lawsuit claims that “he is making significantly more than the woman even though they are both performing the same or substantially similar work.”

Our Florida Employment Law Attorneys at Whittel & Melton are committed to helping bring about gender pay equality. There are laws in place requiring employers to pay women and men the same for equal work. These laws extend beyond salary, including bonuses and other benefits. If you are getting paid less than your male coworkers, we can help you understand your rights and achieve justice.

You deserve fair pay for equal work. It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you for retaining a lawyer to protect your legal rights. For a completely free and confidential consultation, please call us today at 866-608-5529 or contact us online. The time to act is now.