$2M Settlement Resolves Claims of Missed Meal Breaks at Disneyland

A $2 million settlement regarding pay for missed meal breaks and underpaid wages at Disneyland has been preliminarily approved by U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna.

Lead plaintiffs Jose V. and Erica C. filed the motion for preliminary approval of the proposed class action settlement on Nov. 4.

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide Inc. faced allegations that employees were underpaid because of the way the company paid premiums for certain positions. The plaintiffs said that a Disneyland Resort Lead, who would act as a leader in various positions, would receive an additional $1.50 per hour. An employee working as a Main Entrance Screener performing bag checks would receive an extra twenty-five cents per hour.

Employees also received shift differential premiums depending upon the time the shift began, the plaintiffs claimed.

Missed Meal Breaks and Unpaid Overtime Allegations

Plaintiffs allege the incentive premiums were paid separately on their paychecks, which allowed the company to offset the amount of overtime wages paid.

Plaintiffs alleged Disney had a policy and procedure of using a “Rate in Effect” method to calculate overtime pay for employees.

According to the Disney lawsuit, “The Rate in Effect method paid premium work at time and a half with a second, identical line item listing the same applicable premium code when the employee worked overtime hours, as opposed to paying the time and a half under a separate ‘Overtime’ code.”

Employees also alleged they were not paid overtime wages when working through their lunch breaks put them into overtime status. Missed meal breaks were allegedly paid as straight time regardless of the number of hours worked within one workweek.

Even though he granted preliminary approval to the settlement, Judge Selna expressed some concerns. He said that even though he felt the monetary amount was “adequate,” he said the court would need to see an estimate of the average recovery for Class Members before granting final approval.

He also said that the attorney fees requested of more than $660,000 represented about a third of the amount of the entire settlement, but the usual amount for attorney fees is around a quarter of the settlement amount. He said that the lawyers would need to give justification for the above-average request to be considered.

Judge Selna also questioned the $10,000 per lead plaintiff awards requested for Jose and Erica, who he said might not receive awards that are a lot higher than the amounts individual Class Members will receive. The judge was not sure the two named plaintiffs had done that much extra work compared to their fellow Class Members

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have 45 days to file a motion for final settlement approval.

Disney is facing another battle regarding a wage and hour claim. The Walt Disney Co. was sued in April of this year over allegations the company violated California’s equal pay act by paying women less than men who worked in similar jobs. The two named plaintiffs in that case are a product development manager in Glendale, Calif. and a senior copyright administrator at the Disney Music Group in Burbank.

Disney’s lawyers went to court in October to have the case thrown out by filing a demurrer, and a judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the demurrer on Dec. 11.

The Missed Meal Breaks Lawsuit is Jose V. et al. v. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc. et al., Case No. 8:17-cv-01988, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now