Reuters reported on Sunday that a lawsuit has been filed against Walt Disney (DIS.N) for systematically underpaying women in the state of California.

According to the filing, female employees earned $150 million less than their male employees over an eight-year period.

The filling is based on an analysis of Disney's human resource data from April 2015 through December 2022. It covers some 12,500 current and former full-time female Disney employees who hold or have held positions below the level of vice president.

Conducted by David Neumark, a University of California Irvine professor, and labor economist, the analysis revealed that Disney employees were paid 2% less than their male counterparts. 

Disney, on its part, has disputed the findings. 

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"The plaintiffs' assertions about an alleged pay gap between women and men are simply false, which we will demonstrate through the litigation," said Shawna M. Swanson, associate general counsel and head of the employment law function for Disney.

The suit was originally filed by LaRonda Rasmussen in 2019 after learning that six men holding the same job title earned about $20,000 more than females with the same role. 

"Several of the named plaintiffs, they do love the Disney brand, they just want to be paid fairly," said Lori Andrus, the plaintiffs' lead attorney.

The Equal Pay Act and the Fair Employment & Housing Act prohibit an employer from paying its employees less than employees of the opposite sex for equal work.

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