The Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay $233 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by Disneyland workers who allege that the Mouse House stiffed them by failing to meet local minimum wage requirements.
Disney on Friday approved the preliminary settlement which accounts for back pay with interest that is owed to more than 50,000 current and former employees of its Anaheim, Calif. theme parks.
“What we believe is the largest wage and hour class settlement in California history will change lives for Disney families and their communities,” Randy Renick, an attorney representing the workers in the class-action suit, told the Los Angeles Times.
The settlement covers back pay with interest from Jan. 1, 2019 — the day Anaheim’s $15-an-hour minimum wage law went into effect.
Disney also agreed to pay penalties, interest and other fees.
In July, Disney agreed to a new contract with unionized workers at Disneyland — raising the minimum wage to $24 an hour.
A California state judge is scheduled to review the settlement on Jan. 17. If approved, each employee will receive a notice informing them of how much they will receive.
“We are pleased that this matter is nearing resolution,” a Disneyland spokeswoman told the LA Times.
“Currently, all cast members make at least the Measure L requirement of $19.90 per hour, and, in fact, 95% of them make more.”
Measure L is the minimum wage law approved by Anaheim voters that went into effect in January 2019.
The dispute between Disney and its employees began in February 2018, when a group of labor unions published a survey which found that company workers struggled to earn enough money to cover basic expenses.
Later that year, Anaheim voters approved the new minimum wage measure.
Disney negotiated pay raises with individual theme park unions and union councils — though it did not adjust wages in accordance with the law.
That prompted Disney employees to file a class-action lawsuit in December 2019. The company was accused of seeking to illegally circumvent the minimum wage law.
The Post has sought comment from Disney.
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