Disney is set to pay $233 million to Disneyland workers after they were allegedly found violating Anaheim's minimum wage law. It's the largest wage theft settlement in California history, according to lawyers.
All this goes back to 2018 when local voters passed Measure L, which set a living wage ordinance for businesses in the Anaheim Resort area that took tax subsidies/breaks from the City of Anaheim.
“At the time, one of those companies was Disney. And Disney, though, said, ‘No, we do not do this.’ Right after that, you had a couple of … Disneyland workers sue the city saying, ‘No, in fact, you did. So this is 2019,’’ explains Gustavo Arellano, columnist with the LA Times. “Flash forward all the way to 2024, and finally a judge said, ‘Yes. In fact, Disney was required to pay the living wage ordinance as specified by Measure L.’ And as a result, since they haven't been doing it all these years, now they have to pay … $233 million in back wages to 50,000 current or former Disney employees.”
An Orange County Superior Court judge must determine how much income each worker (part-time and full-time) was supposed to be earning due to Measure L, Arellano explains. On top of that are penalties and interest. “I cannot overstate how huge this is, specifically for the workers. This could be life-changing for many people.”
What does this mean to how much power Disney has in Anaheim? Arellano notes that the city council there, which now includes new members following last year’s election, is mostly pro-Disney.
“Last year, that city council, they approved … unanimously plans to allow Disney to be able to expand the Disneyland Resort. Disney, in many ways, is more successful than ever before. … It is an empire where $233 million, yeah, you don't want to lose that, but at the end, it's like money in the couch that they have forgotten about.”