Jude approves $233M settlement in Disneyland living wage class action

Disneyland living wage class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: A California state court has granted final approval of a $233 million settlement between Walt Disney Co. and more than 51,000 Disneyland employees.
• Why: The workers alleged Disney violated a 2018 city of Anaheim minimum wage ordinance.
• Where: The Disneyland living wage class action lawsuit was filed in California state court.
• How to Make a Claim: Details on how to file a claim were not immediately available. Sign up for our free newsletter to receive claim-filing instructions once they’re available, and check out what settlements are paying out this month.

A California state court has granted final approval of a $233 million settlement between Walt Disney Co. and more than 51,000 Disneyland workers who alleged the entertainment company violated the city of Anaheim’s minimum wage ordinance.

The Disneyland living wage class action lawsuit was filed in December 2019 and alleged that Disney and a company that runs food services and a Starbucks at the Anaheim theme park underpaid workers in violation of the city’s 2018 ballot measure, Measure L.

Anaheim enacted Measure L, also known as the Living Wage Ordinance, in 2018. It applies to hospitality employers in the Anaheim or Disneyland Resort areas who benefited from city subsidies to pay employees at least $15 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2019. The minimum wage has since increased to $20.42 an hour.

Disneyland workers to receive $180M from settlement

The Disneyland workers will receive roughly $180 million from the settlement, the Disneyland class action lawsuit says.

The settlement benefits a class of current and former Disney employees who worked at Disney theme parks and hotels in Anaheim and lived in California and weren’t paid hourly wages or service charges in amounts required by a provision in the Anaheim Municipal Code at any time from Jan. 1, 2019, through March 25, 2025, according to the Disneyland class action lawsuit.

The Disneyland workers’ attorneys will receive $35 million in attorney fees, according to the Disneyland settlement.

A California state appeals court ruled in July 2023 that Disney was required to follow the Living Wage Ordinance since a pair of agreements the company signed with Anaheim allowed the company to receive a tax rebate from the city.

The workers argued the Disneyland settlement was an “outstanding result compared with what plaintiffs might obtain at trial.”

“We are very satisfied with this result, which is unusually good,” Richard G. McCracken, an attorney for the Disneyland workers, told Law360.

McCracken said class members will receive 100% of their compensation lost from Disneyland’s refusal to implement the living wage law, plus 10% interest, plus penalties.

In other recent settlements, Disney agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule by failing to properly label some videos uploaded to YouTube as “made for kids.”

What do you think of the Disneyland living wage settlement? Let us know in the comments.

The Disneyland living wage class action lawsuit is Kathleen Grace, et al. v. The Walt Disney Co., et al., Case No. 30-2019-01116850, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Orange.

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