US: Disney reaches $100 million settlement over wage-fixing allegations

A group of animation workers have reached a $100 million settlement with the Walt Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm after they filed a class action lawsuit claiming the companies conspired to fix animation wages.

Filed in December 2014 on behalf of Robert Nitsch, who was a senior character effects artist at DreamWorks Animation from 2007 to 2011, the suit had alleged that the plaintiffs — which also included Walt Disney, Sony Pictures Animation, Pixar and Lucasfilm — violated antitrust laws by using “non-poaching” agreements to suppress wages.

Additional plaintiffs on the lawsuit were David Wentworth, a former ImageMovers Digital production engineer, and Georgia Cano, a digital artist who had also worked at ImageMovers Digital, as well as Rhythm & Hues and Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Full Content: SF Gate

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