Disney, Workers Reach $43 Million Deal to End Equal Pay Claims

The Walt Disney Co., several related companies, and workers who say the entertainment behemoth paid women less than men reached a deal worth more than $43 million to resolve their equal pay dispute.

The settlement follows more than five years of litigation and includes Disney’s commitment to undertake a pay equity analysis and take steps to address any significant gender-based compensation disparities for certain workers, according to the agreement filed Monday in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County.

The workers sued under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, Equal Pay Act, and other state laws in 2019. They allege Disney paid thousands of California women at some of its theme park, music, and motion picture companies tens of thousands of dollars less than men in similar jobs. Disney didn’t admit to any wrongdoing in settling.

The court certified a class on the workers’ EPA claims in 2023, but denied certification to the proposed FEHA class. Judge Elihu M. Berle in June 2024 allowed Disney to withhold thousands of documents on its pay practices because they involved privileged legal advice.

The settlement—which includes a recovery for an FEHA class—"would not be possible without these courageous women,” said Christine Webber, a Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC partner who represents the workers. “Because of them, women can expect equitable treatment at Disney in the future,” she added.

The company has “always been committed to paying our employees fairly” and “demonstrated that commitment throughout this case,” a Disney spokesperson told Bloomberg Law. The deal calls for Disney to hire an outside labor economist to perform a pay equity analysis for each of the next three years, with annual steps to address any gender-based differentials.

The EPA class is made up of women employed at certain Disney companies in California at any time between April 1, 2015, and Dec. 28, 2024, who worked particular salaried, full-time jobs. The settlement’s FEHA class covers a similar group of workers.

The deal includes a $250,000 payment under California’s Private Attorneys General Act. The unique law allows workers to recover for employment violations on behalf of the state and other aggrieved employees, with the bulk of any recovery allocated to the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency.

The workers’ lawyers—Cohen Milstein; Andrus Anderson LLP; and Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho—plan to ask for up to one third of the settlement fund, or more than $14 million, in attorneys’ fees. The deal also allows the firms to seek up to $1.8 million as reimbursement for their litigation expenses.

The state court must sign off on the deal, including any fees, before it takes effect. A preliminary settlement approval hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10, according to the docket.

Paul Hastings LLP represents Disney.

The case is Rasmussen v. The Walt Disney Co., Cal. Super. Ct., No. 19STCV10974, settlement approval motion filed 11/25/24.