[US] Disney agrees to pay $43 million to settle pay parity lawsuit

The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it had paid female employees less than their male counterparts in similar roles for nearly a decade, CNN reports.

The settlement agreement was reached on November 25. It began with a 2019 lawsuit filed by LaRonda Rasmussen who claimed she had discovered that six men with the same job title earned substantially more than her.

This reportedly included one man with several years less experience earning $20,000 a year more than Ms Rasmussen.

Around 9,000 women - former and current employees - joined the lawsuit.

Disney disputed the allegations and did not admit fault.

A Disney spokesperson told CNN, “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.” 

Three law firms representing the plaintiffs said that, as part of the settlement, Disney must hire a labour economist to analyse pay equity among full-time, non-union California employees below the vice president level for three years and amend the differences.

“I strongly commend Ms. Rasmussen and the women who brought this discrimination suit against Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies in the world. They risked their careers to raise pay disparity at Disney,” Lori Andrus - a partner at Andrus Anderson - said in a statement.

The plaintiffs reportedly accused Disney of paying female employees less than their male counterparts when they started at the company because their pay was lower at previous companies. According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney failed to factor in their gender pay disparities.

Disney said that a 2022 review of its pay policies had shown that women earned 99.4 per cent of what men earned. It asserted that the case shouldn’t be classified as a class action because pay is determined by hundreds of managers across several divisions at the entertainment giant.

The settlement agreement has yet to be approved by a judge.

Source: CNN

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it had paid female employees less than their male counterparts in similar roles for nearly a decade, CNN reports.

The settlement agreement was reached on November 25. It began with a 2019 lawsuit filed by LaRonda Rasmussen who claimed she had discovered that six men with the same job title earned substantially more than her.

This reportedly included one man with several years less experience earning $20,000 a year more than Ms Rasmussen.

Around 9,000 women - former and current employees - joined the lawsuit.

Disney disputed the allegations and did not admit fault.

A Disney spokesperson told CNN, “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.” 

Three law firms representing the plaintiffs said that, as part of the settlement, Disney must hire a labour economist to analyse pay equity among full-time, non-union California employees below the vice president level for three years and amend the differences.

“I strongly commend Ms. Rasmussen and the women who brought this discrimination suit against Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies in the world. They risked their careers to raise pay disparity at Disney,” Lori Andrus - a partner at Andrus Anderson - said in a statement.

The plaintiffs reportedly accused Disney of paying female employees less than their male counterparts when they started at the company because their pay was lower at previous companies. According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney failed to factor in their gender pay disparities.

Disney said that a 2022 review of its pay policies had shown that women earned 99.4 per cent of what men earned. It asserted that the case shouldn’t be classified as a class action because pay is determined by hundreds of managers across several divisions at the entertainment giant.

The settlement agreement has yet to be approved by a judge.

Source: CNN

(Link and quotes via original reporting)