Disneyland owes back pay to 50,000 employees in $233 million settlement
Years after Disney was first accused of violating minimum wage laws at its California resort, the “happiest place on Earth” has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for $233 million. A lawyer representing Disneyland workers confirmed the settlement to Straight Arrow News.
Based on the law firm’s research, it’s believed to be the largest wage and hour class-action settlement in California history.
“For this to be the result, and all of the money to go back to the workers, and the interest on top, it doesn’t quite get better than this,” attorney Cornelia Dai told SAN. “Especially when you have a long fight like this, five years.”
Dai said the settlement will cover 100% of back pay, plus interest and penalties, owed to more than 50,000 Disney employees since 2019. If a judge approves the settlement next month, workers will then find out how much they get.
The five-year fight
Back in 2018, Anaheim voters approved Ballot Measure L, which specifically required employers in Disneyland and Anaheim resort zones that had tax rebate agreements with the city to pay a higher minimum wage. Starting in 2019, that was $15 an hour. It increased $1 every year to $18 an hour by 2022. From there, it started rising by the rate of inflation. In 2024, the rate is $19.90 an hour.
The ballot measure got a boost from this 2018 survey of Disneyland employees, “Working for the Mouse.”
The report said, “Disneyland employees report high instances of homelessness, food insecurity, ever-shifting work schedules, extra-long commutes, and low wages … Almost three-quarters (73%) say that they do not earn enough money to cover basic expenses every month.”
The ballot measure passed with 54% of the vote, but Disney’s lawyers were already on the case. Disneyland argued it didn’t fall under the “living-wage law” because the 1996 expansion deal it had with the city didn’t qualify as a tax rebate. The Anaheim city attorney agreed, but workers filed a class action lawsuit anyway.
Years into this legal battle, a judge also sided with Disney in 2021. But by 2023, the district court of appeal reversed the ruling, saying Disney did fall under the living-wage law and therefore was illegally evading it for years. The California Supreme Court declined to hear the case, effectively ending Disney’s fight.
Disneyland today
“Disney is meeting the Measure L hourly rates and going forward, they’re going to match the increase,” Dai said. “So this is going to change lives in a real way. And I’m not just saying those words. It’s really going to change the lives of the Disney employees and their families. So it’s a big deal. It’s a real big deal.”
“We are pleased that this matter is nearing resolution. Currently, all cast members make at least the Measure L requirement of $19.90 per hour, and, in fact, 95% of them make more,” Disneyland spokesperson Suzi Brown said in a statement to Straight Arrow News.
This summer, Disneyland staved off a strike by agreeing to a three-year contract with unionized workers that pays a $24 minimum wage for 2024.
Fired Disney worker accused of hacking menus, claimed items as peanut-free
A former Disney World employee is accused of hacking the company’s online servers. According to a federal complaint, Michael Scheuer falsely claimed certain foods as peanut-free, changed prices and printed profane language.
The complaint said Scheuer was a menu production manager for Disney, but was fired in June for misconduct.
Scheuer is also accused of using a bot to attempt over 100,000 log-ons to disable at least 14 Disney employee accounts, effectively locking them out of their accounts.
Scheuer denied wrongdoing and said Disney is “attempting to frame him.” His lawyer said he has a “mental health disability” that caused a panic attack at work that led to his termination.
The complaint said Scheuer’s cyberattack, which reportedly lasted for three months, cost Disney at least $150,000.
Disney World joins other theme parks closing ahead of Hurricane Milton
Orlando is one of the areas expected to be inundated with the most rain by Hurricane Milton, prompting a rare move by Disney World. Disney is closing its parks and hotels early Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 9, and says they will likely stay closed through Thursday, Oct. 10.
This will mark the 12th time in Disney World’s 53-year history the park will see a closure. Goldman Sachs estimates Disney will miss out on $150 million due to the storm.
Hurricane Milton: Disney World remains open, other parks close
As Floridians prepare for Hurricane Milton, Disney World in Orlando is staying open — for now. Both Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando remained open Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 8.
Orlando International Airport announced it will close Wednesday morning, with the Category 4 storm forecast to hit Florida’s west coast that night.
According to a statement on Disney’s website, the theme park is currently operating under normal conditions.
“Looking ahead, we are making adjustments based on the latest weather forecast and some areas with unique environments,” the statement reads.
Disney will close its Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Disney’s online reservation system showed no vacancies for the rest of the week.
Universal Orlando, on the other hand, will shut down Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and CityWalk at 2 p.m. Wednesday, remaining closed on Thursday. Volcano Bay will also be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
Other theme parks across Florida are closing as well. Busch Gardens Tampa announced it would be closed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. SeaWorld Orlando said it would close Wednesday and Thursday, while Legoland will also close Wednesday and Thursday.
Those with plans to Disney World this week won’t automatically receive a refund. According to Disney World’s website, customers can reschedule or cancel if a hurricane warning is issued for the Orlando area or where they live within a week of the scheduled arrival date.
Report: NYC school staff used homeless students funds for personal family trips
New details have emerged about a misuse of funds within New York City’s public school system. A recently released investigative report reveals six school employees took their own children on trips to Disney World, instead of using the funds on homeless students.
The report said funds intended to provide educational trips for students living in shelters were used by teachers. They allegedly brought family members on trips to places like Florida, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and even to Broadway shows.
At the center of the scandal is Lisa Wilson, the Queens regional manager for the office that supports these low income students. The scheme ran from 2016 to 2019, and involved the misuse of $300,000 of federal grant money. All of the money was meant to help homeless children.
Investigators allege that Wilson encouraged colleagues to bring their own family on trips, while doing the same with her own. She reportedly told them, “what happens here stays with us.”
Wilson denies the allegations. In an interview with the New York Post, she calls the investigation a “witch hunt,” insisting that she didn’t take her family on trips or advise her staff to do so.
The report claims Wilson forged permission slips and bypassed the Department of Educations protocols. She allegedly used an outside agency to handle travel arrangements.
In some cases, the students didn’t even visit the college campuses they were meant to tour. A whistleblower exposed the scandal, claiming students who were supposed to go on the trips never actually attended. Paperwork was even forged to cover the tracks of the scheme, stating that students did attend the trips.
One employee even tried to defend herself, saying Wilson encouraged it and she had no reason to believe it was against the rules. The investigation recommends that Wilson and the other employees involved be fired and required to pay back the money spent on their trips.
Wilson has since claimed that she is retired, and the Education Department confirmed that none of the employees named in the report are currently employed with the schools.
Disney ditches Disney+ ‘terms of use’ defense in wrongful death lawsuit
Walt Disney Co. agreed to let a court decide a wrongful death lawsuit at one of its theme parks. The reversal comes after it attempted to send the case to arbitration because the man who brought the case agreed to terms of use for Disney+ when he signed up for a trial years earlier.
The lawsuit says Kanokporn Tangsuan had a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub located on a Disney property. It says she and her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, along with his mother, decided to eat at the restaurant in 2023 because the website said it offered “allergen-free food.” The suit alleges Tangsuan had told the server several times she had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy.
“We believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro said in an email statement to Reuters and other media organizations. “As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”
Initially, Disney argued it should not be liable because it doesn’t own Raglan Road Irish Pub and therefore had no control over its operations.
The company later claimed that when Piccolo agreed to Disney+ terms of use in 2019, and when he bought tickets using the theme park’s website in 2023, he agreed to send any dispute between the user and the company to an arbitrator.
“The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states, in all capital letters, that ‘any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration,’” the company said in a filing when it attempted to have the case dismissed.
Had the case been allowed to go to arbitration, it would have gone before a neutral third party that is not a judge. But after the company faced some bad press for the defense, Disney struck a different tone.
Piccolo’s lawsuit seeks $50,000 and other damages including loss of income and medical and legal costs.
Disney wants wrongful death suit thrown out over man’s Disney+ signup
Disney is attempting to use the terms and conditions of Disney+ against a man suing the company for his wife’s death. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts filed a motion for dismissal on Friday, Aug. 2, over a wrongful death lawsuit because the man who filed it signed up for Disney+ years earlier.
Jeffrey Piccolo’s wife suffered a deadly allergic reaction in October 2023 after eating at a Disney Springs restaurant in Florida. The couple reportedly told the server at the restaurant that she had nut and dairy allergies, and they were repeatedly assured that the food was prepared allergen-free. However, Piccolo’s wife experienced difficult breathing after dinner and later died at a local hospital.
Disney argued that the wrongful death lawsuit should be thrown out because Piccolo signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019. The company said that signing up for the trial requires users to agree to settle all disputes with the company.
Disney’s lawyers said that the company is also protected from legal action because Piccolo used Walt Disney Parks website to buy tickets to Epcot Theme Park a month before the incident, in September 2023. Disney said that the purchasing of the tickets required the user to sign up for the same agreement as Disney+.
We asked him to explain the rules of the sport. He gave SAN this concise explanation:
“Canoe slalom is a series of gates hanging over a whitewater river. Athletes have to navigate those gates and there will be 18 to 25 of them. Fastest time wins. If we touch a gate we incur a 2-second penalty. If we miss a gate, go through it upside down or the wrong direction, we get a 50-second penalty. And that’s really about it.”
But that’s far from it when talking about Eichfeld, who will be making history in his sport for most Olympic appearances. He was, in a way, born for canoeing.
“My parents had a boat waiting for me before I was born so I don’t know if I was really given that much choice,” Eichfeld said with a laugh.
So once he started he said everything clicked, a perfect fit like Cinderella’s glass slipper, and he fell in love with the sport.
In 2008, he qualified for his first Olympics in Beijing at 18 years old. It was an experience he called “super surreal,” especially being part of the opening ceremony.
U.S. Olympic Whitewater kayak team members Casey Eichfeld and Rick Powell (AP Photo/Timothy Jacobsen)
“That’s one of the memories that will stay with me all of my life, particularly my first opening ceremonies,” Eichfeld said. “There’s 550 of us, we’re walking through the tunnel into the bird’s nest and everyone’s chanting ‘USA! USA!’ It gives me chills every time I think about it.”
Eichfeld said it’s not just the memories on the water that stick with him. He said he has plenty of other stories to share.
“I have a memory of hanging out at our athlete’s lounge in our village building, chilling out, watching other sports — Michael Phelps walks in,” Eichfeld recalled. “He’s like, ‘Hey are there any Uncrustables left?’ I said, ‘Dude, I got you.’ I took him right to the fridge that had them, had a coffee together, chatted a little bit. ‘It’s cool to see you. I’m not at all starstruck.’”
After placing 7th at the Rio Games in 2016, his highest placement yet, but then not qualifying for Tokyo 2021, Eichfeld contemplated retirement. He was starting a family and wondering if it was time to turn the page on his Olympic quest, but, like Moana, the water called to him.
“I had to make the decision: If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this,” Eichfeld said. “There’s no messing around with this. If I’m going to take the time to be away from my family, as much as I need to be, then I really need to put the effort in and it paid off.”
“I’m really happy with my decision [to compete], now I get to make that decision again,” Eichfeld said. “We got a home Olympics coming and we have a baby boy coming at the end of October. So big, big year for me.”
“I like to add big things to my Olympic years. In 2016, my wife and I got married in December and this time, we’re having a baby two months after the Olympics. So why not make it a big year, a really memorable year?”
With his family in Paris motivating him, Eichfeld is looking to bring home the gold this time around and then celebrate in style.
“I want to prove that I belong here and even in my advanced age that I can still throw it down,” Eichfeld said. “So I’m fighting for the podium. I want to be up there. And then when I get home I want to go Disney.”
Arson attacks disrupt train travel ahead of Paris Olympics opening ceremony
With just hours to go before the Olympics opening ceremony, arson attacks disrupted traffic on France’s high-speed train lines. And following a Supreme Court ruling banning sleeping in public spaces, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to remove homeless encampments. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Friday, July 26, 2024.
Arson attacks disrupt train travel ahead of Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Authorities are investigating what’s being called “a malicious attack” on France’s high-speed rail network. According to authorities, arsonists set a series of coordinated fires to disrupt travel just ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
It’s already causing delays and is expected to “severely impact” commuters until at least the end of Sunday, July 28. The railway operator said the fires were deliberately set to damage its installations.
This incident is likely to add some apprehension ahead of the much-anticipated Paris Olympic Games.
France has beefed up its security surrounding the world event in unprecedented levels. There will be more than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 security agents deployed, as well as several snipers and drones keeping watch from above as the games officially get underway.
Officials: Man pushing burning car into gully started California wildfire
Wildfires are raging in the west and the impact of the wildfire smoke is being felt as far as the East Coast. It’s California’s largest wildfire of the year, dubbed “The Park Fire,” burning north of Sacramento near the city Chico.
Authorities said they know how it started and have a suspect in custody. They said 48-year-old Ronnie Dean Stout II of Chico, California, pushed a burning car into a dry gully just before 3 p.m. local time on Wednesday, July 24. He has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
The Park Fire is larger than the size of the city of Atlanta and is only 3% contained.
It’s also not the only fire consuming the time and energy of firefighters and officials. Hundreds of wildfires are spreading throughout California, Oregon and Canada, forcing thousands of evacuations.
In Oregon, fires have been ablaze for days, burning nearly 1 million acres.
The impact of wildfire smoke across the nation is expected to worsen throughout the weekend.
California governor issues executive order to remove homeless encampments
The order offers guidance on how to remove the encampments in a humane way. It also makes it clear the decision to remove encampments is up to individual cities.
California has the largest unhoused population in the country, with more than 180,000 people experiencing homelessness.
U.S. arrests Mexican drug cartel leaders “El Mayo” and “El Chapo’s” son
U.S. authorities said they’ve arrested a Mexican drug kingpin who’s evaded capture for decades. Federal agents lured Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada across the border into Texas, where they took him into custody.
“El Mayo” is described as the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, which authorities said has been flooding the U.S. with deadly fentanyl.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of the cartel’s infamous co-founder and former boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was also arrested. “El Chapo” is currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized with COVID-19 and double pneumonia
Former Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein — who’s been sentenced to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of rape — has been hospitalized. His representative said Weinstein is facing a “myriad of health conditions,” including COVID-19 and double pneumonia.
The 72 year old is currently awaiting retrial in Manhattan on sex crime charges after his conviction was overturned on appeal in April. He is tentatively set to be retried in November.
His rape sentence comes out of a conviction in Los Angeles, but he’s being held in a New York prison while waiting for retrial.
Ohio court rules ‘boneless’ chicken wings can have bones
According to the Ohio State Supreme court, customers who order boneless wings should not expect them to be boneless. The ruling stems from a case brought on by a man who said he developed medical problems after a tiny bone fragment became lodged in his throat after he ate boneless wings at a restaurant in 2016.
He sued the restaurant for negligence and breach of warranty. However, the Ohio justices ruled that the term “boneless wings” actually refers to the cooking style and said in its ruling that it’s “common knowledge that chickens have bones.”
American canoeist Casey Eichfeld looks for gold at historic 4th Olympics
This is the fifth installment in our weeklong series taking a closer look at Team USA members and their sports as the Paris Olympics get underway.
Casey Eichfeld is many things: a husband, father, Olympian and a self-described Disney fanatic.
“We got married at Disney World in Epcot,” he told Straight Arrow News, confirming he and his wife’s Disney devotion.
Straight Arrow News asked him to explain the rules of the sport. He gave a concise explanation:
“Canoe slalom is a series of gates hanging over a whitewater river. Athletes have to navigate those gates and there will be 18 to 25 of them. Fastest time wins. If we touch a gate we incur a 2-second penalty. If we miss a gate, go through it upside down or the wrong direction, we get a 50-second penalty. And that’s really about it.”
But that’s far from it when we’re talking about Eichfeld who will be making history in his sport for most Olympic appearances. He was, in a way, born for canoeing.
“My parents had a boat waiting for me before I was born so I don’t know if I was really given that much choice,” Eichfeld said with a laugh.
So once he started he said everything clicked — a perfect fit like Cinderella’s glass slipper — and he fell in love with the sport.
In 2008, he qualified for his first Olympics in Beijing at 18 years old. It was an experience he called “super surreal,” especially being part of the opening ceremony.
“That’s one of the memories that will stay with me all of my life, particularly my first opening ceremonies,” Eichfeld said. “There’s 550 of us, we’re walking through the tunnel into the bird’s nest and everyone’s chanting ‘USA!’ ‘USA!’ It gives me chills every time I think about it.”
Eichfeld said it’s not just the memories on the water that stick with him. He said he has plenty of other stories to share.
“I have a memory of hanging out at our athlete’s lounge in our village building, chilling out, watching other sports — Michael Phelps walks in,” Eichfeld recalled. “He’s like, ‘Hey are there any Uncrustables left?’ I said, ‘Dude, I got you.’ I took him right to the fridge that had them, had a coffee together, chatted a little bit. “‘It’s cool to see you. I’m not at all starstruck.’”
After placing 7th at the Rio Games in 2016, his highest placement yet, but then not qualifying for Tokyo 2021, Eichfeld contemplated retirement. He was starting a family and wondering if it was time to turn the page on his Olympic quest, but, like Moana, the water called to him.
“I had to make the decision: if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this,” Eichfeld said. “There’s no messing around with this. If I’m going to take the time to be away from my family, as much as I need to be, then I really need to put the effort in and it paid off.”
At 34 years old, Eichfeld is now the veteran among his Team USA crew. He’s already thinking ahead, not just about his Olympics dreams, but the ones coming true at home, too.
“I’m really happy with my decision [to compete], now I get to make that decision again,” Eichfeld said. “We got a home Olympics coming and we have a baby boy coming at the end of October. So big, big year for me.”
“I like to add big things to my Olympic years. In 2016, my wife and I got married in December and this time, we’re having a baby two months after the Olympics. So why not make it a big year, a really memorable year?”
With his family in Paris motivating him, Eichfeld is looking to bring home the gold this time around and then celebrate in style.
“I want to prove that I belong here and even in my advanced age that I can still throw it down,” Eichfeld said. “So I’m fighting for the podium. I want to be up there. And then when I get home I want to go Disney.”
Hacker group claims it leaked Disney’s internal info
A hacker group named NullBulge claims to have stolen and leaked 1.2 terabytes of Disney’s internal Slack communications. The data includes discussions about ad campaigns, studio technology, unreleased projects, interview candidates, login credentials and images of employees’ dogs, dating back to 2019.
NullBulge — which targets companies for their handling of artists’ contracts, use of AI and consumer practices — said they leaked the data to protest Disney’s actions in these areas. The group claims they received help from a Disney insider, but this remains unconfirmed. Disney has said it is investigating the matter.
The leaked information was initially posted on BreachForums but has since spread to mirror sites. Security experts, such as Roei Sherman of Mitiga Security, warn that breaches like this are becoming more common, particularly with cloud and SaaS platforms. Sherman noted that the leaked data appears legitimate and includes URLs, employee conversations, credentials and other content.
A spokesperson for NullBulge criticized Disney for how it handles artists’ contracts, its approach to AI and its “blatant disregard for the consumer.” The group’s website describes its mission to protect artists’ rights and ensure fair compensation.
