Lawsuit Accuses Disney Of Systematically Underpaying Female Employees

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A class-action lawsuit accusing Disney of underpaying female employees was filed Tuesday, which happened to be National Equal Pay Day.

The lawsuit was filed by a San Francisco-based firm in Los Angeles Superior Court and claims that the entertainment behemoth discriminates against female workers by paying them less than their male counterparts, according to the New York Times.

Two Walt Disney Studios employees, La Ronda Rasmussen and Karen Moore, are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which asks for back pay, lost benefits and other compensation. The lawsuit, which claims corporate policies have a discriminatory effect on women, is seeking class-action status to represent all women employed by Walt Disney Studios in California since 2015.

National Equal Pay Day marks the date women need to work into 2019 to earn what men were paid in the previous year because women earn 79 cents for every $1 a man earns, according to CBS News.

A Disney spokesperson denies the accusation.