A California judge certified the class in a class-action lawsuit against Disneyland. This certification allows the lawsuit to move forward.
The plaintiffs assert that Disneyland is in violation of a City of Anaheim ordinance requiring certain businesses to pay their employees a living wage.
Under the ordinance, Measure L, resort businesses that receive tax subsidies from the city must comply with the living wage requirement. Anaheim voters approved Measure L in 2018.
The wage requirement in 2018 was $15, and it is increasing by $1 every year until 2022. Once the required wage is $18, it will be adjusted every year based on Anaheim’s cost of living index.
Disneyland and Measure L
Measure L applies to resort businesses and their subcontractors. The plaintiffs, five of whom initially filed suit in 2019, assert that Disneyland and its subcontractors like Sodexo are subject to the living wage requirement.
The City of Anaheim uses tax money from Disneyland to pay off the construction bond that financed the Mickey and Friends parking garage.
Disneyland’s tax dollars cover the majority of the bond repayment. This means, essentially, that all the taxes that Disneyland pays the city benefits the entertainment company instead of going toward public improvements.
Simultaneously, Disneyland pays rent of $1 to lease the parking deck while charging at least $25 per car to park in the deck. Disneyland keeps all the profit.
The plaintiffs assert that Disneyland is getting “a rebate of the best kind: it got its taxes back before it paid them.”
The lawsuit asserts that this relationship is sufficient to show Disneyland’s receipt of tax subsidies from the city and therefore subject the company to Measure L.
Disneyland, however, said its agreement regarding the parking lot is not a subsidy. In 2018, the Anaheim City Attorney stated a similar assertion.
Nonetheless, the judge’s recent certification of the class in the lawsuit allows the plaintiffs’ allegations to continue.
The Case Against Disney
In 2017, Disneyland employees earned an average of $13.36 per hour. Employees became increasingly frustrated, especially amidst the living wage provisions of Measure L.
Five lead plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against Disneyland in Orange County in 2019. The potential class grew in number, and now thousands of people are included, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Randy Renick.
While Renick could give a general description, he said for legal reasons he could not provide the exact number of people in the class.
The judge’s recent decision to certify the class allows Renick and the plaintiffs to proceed with their allegations against Disneyland.
Currently, there is no information regarding the timeline of the legal proceedings. Disneyland also hasn’t publicly commented on the pending lawsuit.
CALIFORNIA CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ATTORNEYS
When a group of employees shares a common complaint against their employer, they can pursue a class-action lawsuit.
In California, class-action lawsuits hold employers accountable for wrongful actions against their workforce, protecting future employees from harm and compensating past or current employees.
At the Workplace Rights Law Group, our California class-action lawsuit attorneys passionately advocate for California workers.
With nearly 100 years of combined experience in employment law and millions of dollars recovered for our clients, we know how to take on large companies like Disneyland.
If you are a current or former employee or contractor of Disneyland and want to join the class action lawsuit, give one of our California class-action lawsuit attorneys a call at 818-446-1045 for a free case review.
Click here to learn more about class action lawsuits.
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Theo Khachaturian
Theo is a trial & appellate lawyer whose practice has emphasized wage-and-hour class actions, business disputes, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and intellectual property theft. He has tried civil cases and argued before various California Courts of Appeal.