Disney Laid Off Wave of Older Employees, Ex-Engineer Alleges

A Walt Disney Co. subsidiary is facing allegations in state court that it laid off a wave of older employees due to age, including one with a hearing impairment who says he was fired after requesting accommodations.

Alexei Gerulaitis, 59, a senior software engineer who worked at Disney Streaming Tech LLC from 2014 until 2022, consistently received exceptional performance reviews until the year before he was let go, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He alleged that in 2022 Disney started frequently laying off older employees and hiring younger replacements.

For example, prior to Gerulaitis’ ...