Discrimination Lawsuits against Disney

For the past few years, Walt Disney World (“Disney”) has been fighting several lawsuits alleging harassment and unfair discrimination based on race, religion and national origin. These were filed by six former and current workers in the Orange Circuit Court. While in one of the lawsuits jury ruled against the plaintiff, the other three were voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.

Trial awaits for Camelia Joseph, a black Haitian woman, alleging that she was reprimanded and subjected to intense scrutiny on the job after she complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In another pending suit, Nabil Boromi, a Moroccan and Muslim, alleged that he was subjected to higher standard than other workers, who were not fired even though they were engaged in similar behavior of “using electronic devices” while monitoring security cameras. The workers claims are being denied by Disney.

While Boromi and Joseph were represented by Orlando attorney Jerry Girley, the other four were represented by Jacksonville attorney David Sacks.

Out of the three lawsuits voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs, two were dismissed in 2013 and one was dismissed this June.

However, last month Gurdit Singh, a Sikh mail deliveryman, won his discrimination case against Disney, wherein he claimed he was sent on restricted routes so that visitors would not see his turban and unshaven beard. Post the judgment, he has been given the same route as his other colleagues after the staff gave him an ‘accommodation’ from their strict grooming guidelines.

Spokeswoman Kim Prunty stated that:

“We have a rigorous process in place to thoroughly and independently review any and all workplace issues.”

“These lawsuits are baseless and without merit.”