Disney has agreed to compensate female employees who claimed male counterparts earned more at the company for similar roles. The women claim Disney unfairly paid women for almost a decade. The settlement comes after a five-year-long court battle.
In 2019, a lawsuit was filed by Disney employee LaRonda Rasmussen, who accused Disney California of paying female employees less than their male colleagues. Rasmussen claimed six male colleagues, with the same employee agreement as her, were being paid as much as $20,000 more. Around 9,000 Disney workers joined the Rasmussen lawsuit.
Disney rejected the allegations, “We have always been committed to paying our employees fairly and have demonstrated that commitment throughout this case, and we are pleased to have resolved this matter.”
In 2022, a Disney pay review found women earned 99.4% of what men earned. The plaintiffs claimed that Disney did not factor in gender pay disparities when hiring women. Instead of matching the pay of male colleagues in the same role, when women were hired, Disney kept female employees at the same lower pay they were receiving from other companies.
Disney has agreed to hire a labor economist as part of the deal to analyze pay equality among full-time staff and fix the differences.
The settlement will need to be judicially approved before proceeding.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
