A group of female Disney workers filed a lawsuit accusing Disney of sexual discrimination and demanding that Disney provides employees equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.

The Case: Laronda Rasmussen v. The Walt Disney Company

The Court: Superior Court for County of Los Angeles

The Case No.: 19STCV10974

The Plaintiff: Laronda Rasmussen v. The Walt Disney Company

The plaintiff in the case, Laronda Rasmussen, and a group of current and former female Disney employees claimed they were paid more than $150 million less than men in similar middle management positions. The women claimed the alleged pay difference violated the Fair Employment & Housing Act and California’s Equal Pay Act. According to the plaintiffs, Disney regularly underpays their female employees, skips over them for promotions, gives them extra work with no additional compensation, and fails to provide them with sufficient support staff to enable them to succeed.

The Defendant: Laronda Rasmussen v. The Walt Disney Company

The defendant in the case, The Walt Disney Company, underwent statistical studies that seem to support the gender pay inequality claims. David Neumark, a professor at California Irvine, labor economist, and gender pay gap expert, analyzed Disney’s human resource data from April 2015 through December 2022 and determined female Disney employees were paid about 2% less than male employees. From 2015 to 2017, the study discovered an even greater gender difference in starting pay (4.36%). When Disney stopped using their prior salary policy that affected starting pay for new hires, the starting pay disparities dropped to 1.3%.

The Case: Laronda Rasmussen v. The Walt Disney Company

The plaintiffs filed their discrimination lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, demanding equal pay for equal work. The plaintiffs hope the judge will certify their four-year-old civil suit as a class action. Approximately 12,500 current and former female Disney employees in California could be affected from 2015 to the present. LaRonda Rasmussen, a manager of product development for Disney, originally filed the suit. Rasmussen claimed that six male employees were paid between $16,000 and $40,000 more than her for similar job duties.

If you have questions about how to file a California discrimination lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.