Disney Faces Payment of Equity Claims from Thousands of Female Employees After Losing Bid to Stay Class Action Certification; “Time to grow up,” says the Mouse House plaintiffs’ attorney

Thousands upon thousands of former and current female Disney employees may sue the Mouse House for paying them less than men.

More than four years after Walt Disney Studios executives LaRonda Rasmussen and Karen Moore filed a lawsuit alleging gender pay inequality, a Los Angeles judge ruled Friday that the case can become a class action .

With a potential payout in the hundreds of millions, that means nearly 10,000 women could join the legal battle. At this rate, a trial could begin in October 2024.

“Disney turns 100 years old this week,” plaintiffs’ attorney Lori Andrus told Deadline after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle heard the company’s organizational objections to the certification in a highly anticipated hearing that was rejected on Friday. “It’s time [for Disney] to grow up and take responsibility for their actions.”

From a legal standpoint, the plaintiffs allege that Disney violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act and California’s Equal Pay Act. It is seeking at least $150 million in lost wages, but the lawsuit could result in damages of up to $300 million. That means the lawsuit could be the largest yet approved under California law.

Additionally, since Disney’s CEO exercises direct control over many aspects of the employment relationship, as stated in the lawsuit filed earlier this year, Bob Iger may be directly involved in this case to testify.

“We are disappointed with the court’s decision on the Equal Pay Act claims and are considering our options,” a Disney spokesperson said this afternoon.

Aside from the fact that Iger is under oath, it’s not hard to understand why the media giant is so disappointed.

Since the trial began in 2019, Disney has repeatedly sought to dismiss or silence the first two plaintiffs’ claims of institutional wrongdoing and to seek refunds, lost benefits and other compensation as “a collection of individual claims based on highly individual claims.” and individually. They tried, but the company couldn’t deny or limit the case.

The numbers don’t look good—and not just because class action certification now allows so many more plaintiffs to participate.

According to documents filed in June, the average salary gap at Disney since 2017 (when the company stopped using previous salary levels as part of “starting salary determination” and “starting salary disparities”) has been about 2.5% less for women than for men ‘s salaries’). “Wages have fallen significantly.” While this often seems like a small salary difference, it actually carries a lot of weight when you consider that the average starting salary for a woman at Disney is $75,000 or less, which is an average of $1,875 less than for male in-home caregivers. Cash after taxes, deductions and more.

The lawsuit spans from 2015 to the present and does not affect women who work at Hulu, ESPN, Pixar and former Fox properties such as FX or National Geographic.

As a side note, this certification hearing was scheduled for last month, but the judge postponed it until today because there was no court reporter present earlier in the day.