Disney Class Action Says Female Employees Are Paid Less

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Disney employees claim that the massive entertainment company pays women less than their male counterparts who perform comparable work.

Plaintiffs LaRonda Rasmussen and Karen Moore say they both work for Disney in California.

The employees allege that the underpayment of women is routine, as Disney does not have an internal system to help ensure that men and women are paid equally.

Rasmussen says she has worked as a Disney financial analyst for the last 11 years. She states that she currently makes $138,375 annually.

The Disney class action alleges that in 2017, Rasmussen spoke with human resources about her pay. She says that at the time, she was making a base salary of $109,958 annually.

Rasmussen allegedly asked the company to consider if she was being paid equally, and was reportedly informed that her pay “was not due to gender.”

According to the Disney employee class action, there were six men who had the same title as she did, and they all made more than her. Allegedly, the men all made between $16,000 and $40,000 more than Rasmussen.

After her conversation with human resources about her pay, Rasmussen says she was given a raise of $25,000. Rasmussen states that human resources stated that her raise was due to “market forces.”

The Disney gender pay gap class action argues that despite this raise, Rasmussen was still making less than the average man doing the same work. She claims that she was shortchanged around $50,000 annually.

Rasmussen goes on to assert that she has received consistent positive feedback for her work, and numerous glowing comments about her performance.

For her part, Moore says that she was discriminated against in hiring and promotions. Moore says that she works as a Senior Copyright Admin Administrator within the Disney Music Group.

According to the Disney class action lawsuit, Moore inquired about an open manager position, but was discouraged from applying.

Allegedly, the job was converted into a senior manager position, and was given to a man. Moore argues that this male employee is making significantly more money than Moore is, despite the fact that they are allegedly performing “the same or substantially similar work.”

Rasmussen and Moore say that other female Disney employees have experienced similar situations. Allegedly, Disney recognizes the problem of pay disparity, but does not have systems in place to ensure that women are paid equally.

To support their claim that Disney is aware of the disparity, a female Senior Manager received a 26.6 percent raise and another Manager received a 27.7 percent raise, around the same time that Rasmussen received an “equity adjudgment.” Allegedly, this shows that Disney recognized that the pay disparity was widespread.

Rasmussen and Moore claim that Disney is a highly structured organization with centralized decision making, which show that the pay disparities are indeed uniform, though Disney argues they are not.

Variety reports a detailed response from a Disney spokesperson, which states “The lawsuit’s uninformed generalized allegations about Disney’s policies and practices are baseless. In point of fact, Disney maintains robust pay equity practices and policies. Even before California’s Fair Pay Act, Disney created a specialized team of Compensation professionals and lawyers to analyze and address the company’s pay equity practices. As to the individual claims, we are confident that they will be found to be meritless when tested against the evidence, rather than the rhetoric of the complaint.”

The Disney employees are represented by Lori E. Andrus and Jennie Lee Anderson of Andrus Anderson LLP.

The Disney Gender Pay Gap Class Action Lawsuit is LaRonda Rasmussen, et al. v. The Walt Disney Company, et al., Case No. 19STCV10974, in the Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County.