Disney has been slapped with lawsuit for allegedly underpaying the maintenance workers at its Disneyland Hotel located just outside of its California-based theme park.
The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court on Thursday, claims the hotel’s workers were not paid the correct overtime rate and were forced to pay for their own “hand tools” and equipment while on the job.
“Under California Wage Orders, employees required to bring their own tools must be paid double the minimum wage,” per the complaint.
Maintenance workers also weren’t given the one-hour break period required for shifts longer than four hours, and were deprived of the “meal break premiums” they were entitled to as a result, the lawsuit said, which was earlier reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition, “Disney also failed to accurately itemize in wage statements.
California law requires employers in the state to provide wage statements listing 12 specific items set forth in labor codes, including an accurate accounting of hours worked, in order to ensure staffers are being paid correctly, and in a “willful and deliberate” manner.
Disney did not do that, per the lawsuit, which was filed by Charlie Torres, who began working at the Disneyland hotel in February 2022 as an assistant maintenance engineer.
Torres, who is still employed at the 970-room, four-star hotel, seeks to represent a group of more than 115 current and former workers at the hotel should it obtain class-action status.
The suit is seeking at least $1 million in back pay and loss of benefits for the four years prior to the date of the filing, and also demands a jury trial to settle the claims.
Representatives for Torres at West Coast Trial Lawyers said in a statement to The Post: “Mr. Torres and so many others are told to cover the expense of tools used on behalf of Disney who flouts the law and refuses to pay its workers what they’re due. Disney is a massive company. They know the law. But just like their character Uncle Scrooge, they choose to be cheap.”
The Post has sought comment from Disney.
Torres’ suit isn’t the first time Disney has been accused of underpaying its workers.
In December, a case that began in 2019 accusing Disney of “rampant pay discrimination” between male and female employees cleared a major hurdle after a judge certified a diverse class of women employed by Disney below the level of vice president between April 2015 and three months before trial — which is set to start in October 2024 — who work across the company’s movie production arm, record labels, and theme parks, among other units.
It’s believed to be one of the largest classes ever suing under an equal pay act claim, The Hollywood reporter earlier reported.
The class certification has since been challenged by the Mouse House, which has argued that the company employs too many workers whose jobs aren’t comparable to one another to achieve class-action status.
California’s minimum wage for most hourly workers — $15.50 per hour — is among the highest in the United States.
The state has recently upped pay for fast food workers to $20 per hour come April 2024 in a move to combat the cost of living crisis.
