Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 18. I’m Carol Cormaci bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
It took five years to get to the resolution sought, but at last a class-action lawsuit filed in January 2019 against Disneyland for skirting an Anaheim minimum wage law has been settled, and in a big way. On Friday, Disney agreed to pay out a total of $233 million in back pay and interest to more than 50,000 current and former workers at the resort.
Imagine how many personalized Mickey Mouse ears that payout would cover. But when that sum by is divided by 50,000 it looks like it would barely cover a month’s rent and household expenses for someone living in Orange County — and without leaving enough cheese in the account for one of the iconic caps, personalized or not.
Frankly, I honestly have to wonder how much it will hurt the Walt Disney Co., which in the fiscal year that ended in September 2023 reported $88.93 billion in revenue and $91.36 billion in fiscal year 2024. Still, how many settlements even nearing such an astounding dollar amount do we ever hear of?
My colleague Gabriel San Román reported the news for TimesOC shortly after it was announced Friday. In his article he details the long court battle and interviewed one Disney “cast member” nearing retirement who is happy to know she will eventually receive the back pay she has been owed for far too long.
One of the attorneys handling the case for the Disney workers, Randy Renick, is quoted as saying he believed it to be “the largest wage and hour class settlement in California history” that will “change lives for Disney families and their communities.”
The reporter also interviewed Peter Drier, a professor of public policy at Occidental College and co-author of “Working for the Mouse: A Survey of Disneyland Resort Employees.
“The company has been stiffing [thousands of] workers for several years,” Dreier said. “They’ve denied them the back pay they’re owed while paying CEO Bob Iger over $31 million a year. It’s only fair that workers get what’s coming to them. And if the world were fair, Iger would take some of it out of his paycheck,” he added.
“It’s a win for the workers that stuck it out at the resort, and it’s a win for the workers that left because they couldn’t stand it anymore but are now getting back pay,” Dreier said. “It’s a testament to the resilience and the fortitude of the labor movement and the workers.”
A follow-up story San Román is working on for this week’s TimesOC will dive into just how record-breaking the settlement amount actually is (spoiler alert: he tells me it is indeed a historic amount, even more so than you might guess) and will go into more details of the battle. I encourage all to watch for it.
MORE NEWS
Election workers sort ballots at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana Tuesday, Nov. 5. The Republican Party of Orange County has debunked unfounded claims of voter fraud in the recent election.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
• In an email that went out in recent days to about 60,000 individuals on its mailing list, the Orange County Republican Party debunked false claims of voter fraud in the 2024 election. The falsehoods, which seemed to have been prompted after Democrat Derek Tran unseated incumbent Republican Michelle Steel in the race to represent the 45th Congressional District, appeared in a blog post that claimed to reveal “huge ballot discrepancies,” according to the L.A Times story on the local GOP’s response. They were amplified by a number of prominent right-wing figures, including Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally who was convicted of lying to Congress during investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. “We support commonsense reforms such as Voter ID and ending universal vote-by-mail to ensure free and fair elections, but false claims of voter fraud only hurt our efforts and ultimately decrease Republican votes when our voters believe their vote does not count,” the O.C. GOP email said.
• Newport Beach will provide a $3-million loan to help the nonprofit American Family Housing transform a former Travelodge on Bristol Street in Costa Mesa into supportive housing for homeless people and at-risk individuals, following a unanimous vote last week of the City Council. A majority of the money for the project, roughly $29 million, came from state funds made available through the Project Homekey program. The county provided $6.8 million, Costa Mesa contributed $4 million and the developer also took out a separate private loan for over $3.1 million.
• Patience has run out on the part of the majority of the Westminster City Council, who recently took the unusual step of suing two of their council colleagues, Amy Phan West and NamQuan Nguyen, whose repeated “unruly behaviors” have disrupted council meetings to the point that several in the past year have lasted up to 10 hours, TimesOC reported. The city is seeking a court order that would require Phan West and Nguyen to abide by decorum rules at council meetings “lest they degenerate into shouting matches; generating heat but not light,” according to the story. They’re also asking that the court order is backed by a fine — to come out of the pocket of the offending council member — for any violation.
PUBLIC SAFETY & COURTS
Malachi Darnell, Leroy McCrary and Jaden Cunningham wait during their court arraignment. They were ordered last week to stand trial on murder charges stemming from a deadly robbery at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
• Three men alleged by police to have been involved in the July killing of a New Zealand woman who had been shopping at Fashion Island in Newport Beach with her husband were ordered last week to stand trial. LeRoy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles, Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles, and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster, are charged with murder for the July 2 killing of 68-year-old Patricia McKay, who was in town to visit relatives. The three defendants are also charged with attempted robbery.
• Rep. Katie Porter, the Irvine Democrat who is leaving Congress next month, was granted a five-year restraining order Tuesday against a former romantic partner who had lived with her. Orange County Superior Court Judge Elia Naqvi granted the restraining order against Julian Carl Willis, 55, of Surf City, N.J. when Willis failed to respond or attend the hearing. The judge said Willis had committed domestic abuse by sending the congresswoman hundreds of threatening and harassing messages after Porter asked him to move out in August.
• Newport Beach police rescued the driver of an SUV that was found submerged in the ocean at Corona del Mar State Beach at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday, officials said. The person, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.
SPORTS
Edison celebrates winning the CIF State Division 1-A championship game trophy after defeating Fresno Central on Saturday at Saddleback College.
(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)
• A thrilling ending: Edison High quarterback Sam Thomson threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Jake Minter with 20 seconds remaining, the decisive score in a 21-14 victory over Fresno Central in the CIF State Division 1-A final on Saturday at Saddleback College. “It doesn’t feel real,” Minter said in helping the Chargers to their first state title as a program. “It feels like a dream.”
LIFE & LEISURE
Tegan Wright, a Corona del Mar resident and JSerra High student, scored a perfect score on the ACT on her first try, as a high school sophomore. Only 2% of students in California and .2% of students nationally manage to accomplish the task.
(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)
• Corona Del Mar resident Tegan Wright, who as a sophomore at JSerra High took what she considered to be a practice ACT wound up earning a perfect score. That’s something only about .2% of over 1.37 million test takers managed that year, in many cases on repeat attempts. Now a junior and with that college admission test already behind her, Wright has packed her schedule with advanced placement classes and extracurricular pursuits. She’s currently working on a project for the 2025 Orange County Science Fair about teaching youth to be inclusive and empathetic. In her leisure time she dabbles in the stock market, enjoys skiing and is a fan of Taylor Swift.
• To expand its offerings to include seventh and eighth grades, a new middle school, cafe and a second gymnasium will be built on the campus of the private Sage Hill School in Newport Beach, hopefully in time for the 2026 school year. The school began raising funds for the new structure in the summer of 2023, and the project was approved by the Newport Beach Planning Commission the following December. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held last week.
CALENDAR THIS
American Ballet Theatre’s presentation of “The Nutcracker” runs through Dec. 22 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
(Marty Sohl / American Ballet Theatre)
• Segerstrom Center for the Arts is once again the venue for a seasonal favorite, American Ballet Theatre’s production of “The Nutcracker,” which includes in its cast some of the young dancers who study at the ABT Gillespie School. “The Nutcracker” runs until Dec. 22. Tickets are available at scfta.org.
• It’s also not too late to make plans to see another holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at South Coast Repertory. The play, adapted by Jerry Patch and directed by Hisa Takakuwa, continues through Dec. 24. Ticketing and more information can be found at the SCR website.
• Here’s a calendar item especially tailored for all who might be interested in taking part in the 2025 summer Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach: The casting call has gone out for onstage and backstage roles. Volunteers should drop by between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10 and 11. A larger window will be available on Sunday, Jan. 12, when the grounds will be open from 2 to 5 p.m. Hopeful participants should expect to have their picture and measurements taken for a potential onstage part. Backstage roles include opportunities to work in the costume, headpiece and makeup departments. The address is 650 Laguna Canyon Road.
If you have the time to check your inbox on Wednesday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah), the TimesOC newsletter will be here for the reading at around 9 a.m. If you’re otherwise engaged, I understand completely and will look forward to catching up with you in the new year. Happy holidays to you and yours!
Best,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to [email protected].