More than 100 Disney hotel maintenance workers responsible for keeping the company's luxe hotels up and running in southern California are suing the entertainment giant for allegedly paying them less than fast-food workers earn in the state and forcing them to moonlight at second jobs despite working overtime.
"A ton of us have or had second jobs just to survive," lead plaintiff Charlie Torres told FOX Business. "I was working 48-plus hours a week in the mornings at Disney and delivering pizzas five nights a week for Pizza Hut."
Amid a regional housing crisis and soaring inflation, the workers tasked with keeping the four-star hotels up to wealthy customers' standards are struggling to get by, according to Ron Zambrano, Torres' attorney.
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"Franchise owners of larger chains have to pay at least $20 an hour to anyone working there," said Zambrano, a partner at West Coast Trial Lawyers in Los Angeles. "So, they're making less than the people working at McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's."
Prior to getting the better-paying maintenance job, Torres said he worked for Disney's food and beverage division, where the labor union maintained its own food bank for members.
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A key issue in the lawsuit is that Disney allegedly required the workers to provide their own tools, which, under California law, means they should be paid double the state's hourly minimum wage of $15.50.
"Why does Disney just not have a warehouse of tools for people to use?" Zambrano asked.
Some made as little as $17.50 an hour, he said. Disney also allegedly skimped on overtime and blocked workers from taking legally guaranteed lunch breaks during the work day or paying them for working through meals.
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Meanwhile, Disney is charging hundreds of dollars a night, depending on the location. Some rooms began at more than $500, an online search showed. Others cost more than $800.
When they were hired, the employees were asked to spend hundreds on a set of required hand tools and replace them on their own dime multiple times a year, Zambrano said.
"That’s a lot of money, half your groceries for the month," Zambrano said. "It's an incredible thing to have asked these guys considering the amount of revenue that these hotels bring."
The class-action complaint, filed Friday, also alleges Disney failed to provide final paychecks on time for workers who were let go or quit. FOX Business reached out to Disney for comment.
The lawsuit is seeking unpaid wages, with interest and legal costs from Disney, which has also faced criticism over its treatment of theme park workers, some of whom have reportedly taken to living in their cars to make ends meet.
One of them died in her car in 2016, the Orange County Register reported. Because Yeweinishet Mesfin had no listed address, it took 20 days from when she was reported missing to find her, according to the paper.
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Torres said he'd worked alongside her.
"She did night custodial work, and we talked," he said. "She died in her car. Nobody knew she was homeless living in her car. But I know it does happen, and I've heard of many employees who do that."
