Disney settles gender pay lawsuit with 9,000 female workers

Employed by Disney, LaRonda Rasmussen and Karen Moore became the faces of the class-action lawsuit filed against the studio in the United States in April 2019. The corporation was sued for discrimination. The plaintiffs claimed that the company knowingly violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Equal Pay Act by paying female employees less than male employees.

The legal proceedings, which involved 9,000 women employed by the company, were scheduled for May 2025. However, on November 12, 2024, the parties announced a settlement. The amount Disney agreed to pay the affected employees was not disclosed. According to the Deadline portal, the compensation could have totaled up to $300 million if lost in court.

In 2019, the defendant employer maintained: "The Disney Companies categorically deny that they pay any female employee less than her similarly situated male coworkers and will vigorously defend themselves against each Plaintiff’s individual claims." Disney's lawyers tried to argue that the issue was about individual claims, not systemic discrimination.

The California court did not agree with this opinion, stating in December 2023 that the lawsuit would be considered a class-action suit. This was determined to mean that all Disney employees have grounds to accuse the employer of discrimination. In response to court documents informing about the class-action lawsuit, 9,000 of the 12,000 women working for Disney declared their participation in the lawsuit. They could demand equal pay for lost wages since 2015 and additional compensation for illegal discrimination. This turn of events prompted the corporation to settle, the details of which remain confidential.