Class action alleges waiting time violations, overtime wage breaches, unfair business practices
A recent wage law case arose from a December 2019 class action against Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S., Inc., as well as Sodexo, Inc. and Sodexomagic, LLC (Sodexo), which operated restaurants in Disney’s theme parks.
The employees alleged that, since Jan. 1, 2019, their employers failed to pay them a living wage, in violation of a 2018 Living Wage Ordinance (LWO) that applied to hospitality employers in the Anaheim or Disneyland Resort areas benefiting from a city subsidy.
A city subsidy was defined as an “agreement with the city pursuant to which a person other than the city has a right to receive a rebate of transient occupancy tax, sales tax, entertainment tax, property tax or other taxes, presently or in the future, matured or unmatured.”
The employees also alleged violations of the state’s waiting time penalties and overtime wage laws, unfair business practices, and civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
In response, Disney and Sodexo filed a summary judgment motion. The defendants did not dispute that the employees did not receive the minimum hourly wage required under the LWO. But Disney argued that the LWO did not cover it because it did not benefit from a city subsidy.
Read more: Disney owes female workers over $150 million in pay gap, claims lawsuit
The trial court granted summary judgment in the defendants’ favor.
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