Disneyland Not Happy Place for Maintenance Workers

Los Angeles, CADisney Hotels is facing yet another class action lawsuit claiming California labor law violations. This time, maintenance workers claim they are paid less than fast food workers. You’d think that Disney could afford to either supply its maintenance crews with tools or pay them the proper hourly rate, considering that its hotel rooms begin at $500 and some go for more than $800 per night, depending upon the location. That would likely be more cost-effective than a class-action lawsuit. Clearly, Disney is not the happiest place on earth for everyone.

Lead plaintiff Charlie Torres filed the lawsuit in state court in Orange County in March 2024. Torres said some workers make as little as $17.50 per hour (fast food workers at larger chains such as McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's are paid at least $20 an hour and minimum wage is $16 per hour). As well, Disney skimped on overtime and blocked workers from taking legally guaranteed lunch breaks during the work day or paying them for working through meals. And Disney failed to provide final paychecks on time for workers who were let go or quit.

According to the complaint, Disney failed to:

• provide final paychecks immediately upon involuntary termination or within 72 hours of voluntary separation
• pay final wages at the location of employment
• include all wages due in the final paychecks
• provide rest periods or meal periods to employees working at least five- hour shifts
• provide second meal periods for shifts of at least ten hours nor compensation in lieu thereof
• fully compensate Plaintiff Class for hours worked in excess of 8 hours in a day
• pay the correct overtime rate for applicable overtime hours worked.

To reiterate, Torres says that, because Disney doesn’t pay the maintenance workers a proper hourly rate, they are paid a lower overtime premium than they should be. As well, the workers are required to be on duty during meal and rest breaks but are not paid for that time in violation of state law.

But most important is the tools issue: the entertainment giant required the workers to provide their own tools but didn’t pay double the state's hourly minimum wage as required under California Wage Orders. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, which operates the amusement park, requires maintenance employees to bring their own hand tools and equipment to work but does not pay them a premium required by California law. (Why doesn’t Disney simply supply its workers with tools?)  According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, when the maintenance workers were hired, “they were asked to spend hundreds on a set of required hand tools and replace them on their own dime multiple times a year”. Do the math. According to Reuters, Torres is seeking “up to seven figures in backpay" on behalf of more than 100 workers.