25,000 employees sue Disneyland over living wage issues: Report

A class action suit is being filed against the the Walt Disney as more than 25,000 current and former Disneyland employees have alleged that they’re being underpaid. Filed in 2019, the suit was granted class-action status in July in the Orange County Superior Court.

“We feel like there’s always somebody else that will fill our spot,” Disneyland cast member Gabriel Sarracino told SFGATE.

The lawsuit states that Disneyland employees are being underpaid based on laws that were passed by the city of Anaheim, where Disneyland is located. 

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As per Cinema Blend, past job descriptions for Disneyland employees ranged between $12-$14.05 dollars an hour. As per OC Registar, the average Disneyland salary was about $40,000 per year, or $19 dollars an hour.

“I couldn’t make it on minimum wage, which is how much they pay me,” Sarracino explained. “If they are going to make changes where I have less opportunity for tips, then that’s half my income [gone].”

“I hope to someday buy a house. That extra money — I should be able to invest in my community and help my children have an edge.”

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As per the Measure L law (2018), businesses receiving subsidies from the city were required to pay employees $15 per hour when it was passed, increasing to $18 by 2022, plus subsequent cost-of-living increases.

Disneyland, in 2018, entered into an agreement to raise its 10,000 union employees’ pay to $15.45 by 2020, per CNN Money.  The current California minimum wage is $14.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Disneyland had agreed to raise the starting wage for employees to $15.45 by 2020. This was supposed to be done through shutterings and payouts during the pandemic. The company did make the initial payments but later laid off a number of employees. 

As per a survey, a majority of 5000 cast members experienced difficult living conditions because of low pay. The study by Occidental College and the Economic Roundtable published in February 2018, found that 11% of Disneyland employees reported experiencing homelessness in the previous two years, 68% were food insecure and 73% said they do not earn enough for basic living expenses.