Disney settles for $43 million in pay inequity lawsuit

The Walt Disney Company will pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of pay inequities between men and women.

The company was accused of paying lower wages to its female employees for eight years, according to a complaint filed by over 9,000 former employees.

Disney has agreed to pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit that said it paid female employees less than their male counterparts in similar roles for nearly a decade.

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2024-11-26T14:12:03.975Z

The lawsuit, filed by LaRonda Rasmussen in California in 2019, claims that female Disney employees earned $150 million less than their male counterparts over an eight-year period.

Recall that in 2019, Rasmussen, an employee, discovered that she earned $20,000 less than six men in the same position as her, including one with fewer years of experience. She then filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which some 9,000 current and former employees subsequently joined.

According to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, in addition to paying $43 million, Disney agreed to retain a labor economist for three years to analyze pay equity among full-time employees and address existing gaps.

Disney tried to stop the class action suit in 2023, but failed, with the judge finding that current and former employees had risked their careers to denounce pay disparities at one of the world’s largest entertainment companies.