- Disney to Pay $233M in Minimum Wage Lawsuit
- Thousands of Amazon Drivers Go on Strike
- UnitedHealth Group Settles $69M ERISA Lawsuit
- Starbucks Expands Paid Parental Leave
Disney to Pay $233M in Minimum Wage Lawsuit
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Disney will pay $233 million to settle a class-action lawsuit, representing more than 50,000 underpaid Disneyland workers.
The settlement comes after a five-year legal battle. In 2018, voters in Anaheim, Calif., passed Measure L, which forced hospitality businesses that receive tax rebates to increase their minimum wage to $15 an hour. After the initiative was approved, Disney moved to end $267 million in subsidies for a luxury hotel to evade the mandate. Disney maintains it’s not covered by Measure L, arguing the word “rebate” as defined in the ordinance is limited to the return of taxes paid by residents. Initially, a court sided with Disney, but the decision was reversed last year.
The five workers who filed the lawsuit earned between $12 to $14.25 per hour working at a company resort, according to the complaint. In a statement, a Disneyland spokesperson said all cast members “make at least the Measure L requirement of $19.90 per hour, and, in fact, 95% of them make more.” She added, “We are pleased that this matter is nearing resolution.”
Thousands of Amazon Drivers Go on Strike
Amazon drivers in four states went on strike Thursday, Dec. 19. According to CNN, the strike affects seven facilities in New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Skokie, Ill., representing 7,000 Amazon workers.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents approximately 10,000 Amazon staff and contractors, at warehouses, delivery and air hubs, but the company does not recognize the union. The National Labor Relations Board has only certified one group of Amazon workers in Staten Island, N.Y., as being in a union.
By striking the week before Christmas and Hanukkah, the Teamsters hope to apply maximum pressure to Amazon, reported CNN.
The Teamsters had given Amazon until Dec. 15 to come to the table to negotiate a collective-bargaining contract with its unionized workers.
UnitedHealth Group Settles $69M ERISA Lawsuit
UnitedHealth Group has agreed to settle an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) class-action lawsuit for $69 million. The agreement was reached Friday, Dec. 13, and is believed to be the largest ever of an ERISA case stemming from poorly performing investment options in a 401(k) plan, according to law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight.
The plaintiff in the case Snyder v. UnitedHealth Group, et al. alleged that UnitedHealth violated its fiduciary duties under the federal ERISA by “imprudently and disloyally selecting, retaining and monitoring a suite of poorly performing target date funds ... for the plan’s investment menu.”
The complaint also stated UnitedHealth allegedly kept its decision-making secret and threw out key findings that the plan’s own investment committee had made, while abandoning the plan’s written criteria for screening investments, in order to justify keeping the poorly performing suite of funds.
Starbucks Expands Paid Parental Leave
Starbucks is increasing the amount of paid leave it offers to birth parents — from the current six weeks to 18 weeks, according to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. Additionally, non-birth parents will receive up to 12 weeks of leave at full pay.
In a press release issued Monday, Dec. 16, Niccol said the changes were made after hearing feedback that the six-week leave as new parents wasn’t adequate for workers.
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