© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A screen displays the logo and ticker symbol of The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDiarmid/File Photo
(Reuters) – Walt Disney (NYSE:) has been accused of underpaying California women systematically in a lawsuit alleging that female employees at the company in the state earned $150 million less than their male counterparts over an eight-year period.
Friday’s filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeks to persuade a judge to endorse a four-year-old civil suit as a class action, covering about 12,500 current or former full-time Disney employees who held positions below the vice president level.
An analysis of Disney human resources data from April 2015 through December 2022 found that female Disney employees earned nearly 2% less than their male counterparts. The study was conducted by David Newmark, a University of California, Irvine professor and labor economist.
Disney disputes the results.
Swanson, associate general counsel and head of the employment law division for Disney, said, “The plaintiffs’ assertions about the alleged wage gap between women and men are simply false, and we will prove this through litigation.”
The original lawsuit was filed by LaRonda Rasmussen in 2019, after learning that six men with the same job title earn significantly more, including a recent employee with several years less experience, who earned an additional $20,000, according to the complaint. Nine current or former Disney employees have joined the lawsuit.
“Many of the plaintiffs who are named, they love the Disney brand, they just want to be paid fairly,” said Laurie Andrews, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney.
Lower wages for women in California would violate the state’s equal pay law and the Fair Employment and Housing Act.