Disney Caves To Public Pressure Over Disney+ Loophole By Allowing Lawsuit In Allergy Fatality
Last week, it was revealed Disney was served with a wrongful death lawful by Jeffrey Piccolo following the death of his wife, Dr Kanokporn Tangsuan, in 2023 from a severe allergic reaction after eating at the Raglan Road Irish Pub at a Disney Springs restaurant.
The restaurant owners, along with Disney, have both been named in the lawsuit, which is for $50,000, plus legal costs and states that Disney did not take enough care over her severe allergies to dairy and nuts, despite being repeatedly told about them.
While Raglan Road Irish Pub is located at Disney Springs, the restaurant is not owned or operated by Disney. This story caught the world’s attention when it was revealed that Disney’s lawyers were trying to use a legal loophole that because Dr Kanokporn Tangsuan signed up on a Playstation for a free trial of Disney+ in 2019, the terms and conditions state that they agreed to settle any disputes with the company via arbitration. Disney also states that Jeffrey Piccolo agreed to these terms when buying tickets through his Disney account when visiting Epcot at Walt Disney World in 2023.
Due to this clause, Disney wants the lawsuit halted and for the dispute to be resolved out of court. Jeffrey Piccolo’s lawyers have called these arguments “preposterous” and “inane”.
“The notion that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer’s right to a jury trial in any dispute with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience, and this court should not enforce such an agreement.
In effect, WDPR is explicitly seeking to bar its 150 million Disney+ subscribers from ever prosecuting a wrongful death case against it in front of a jury even if the case facts have nothing to with Disney+,”
While Disney issued a statement regarding the lawsuit last week, stating:
“We are merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant”
The reaction from people around the world has seen Disney begin the process of submitting the waiver-withdrawal filing in court, and Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro has released a new statement:
“At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations. With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss. As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”
Josh D’Amaro
It’s unclear when this case will go to court and if Disney will still be involved in the situation, should it be decided that Disney didn’t have anything to do with the actual situation.
Roger’s Take: This news doesn’t come as a huge surprise, since the negative publicity for Disney+ and Walt Disney World will have caused a lot of damage to the brand. I still wouldn’t be surprised if Disney executives stepped in once the news of the lawsuit went viral, as ultimately, since Disney doesn’t actually own or operate the restaurant, it likely wouldn’t be found at fault anyway. Hopefully, Disney will do the right thing and try to make peace with the family following this tragic accident. Plus, also no doubt Disney’s lawyers won’t be trying to use this clause to deal with future lawsuits since it seems an insane idea that they tried this in the first place. More importantly, this will result in better allergy training being implemented across all Disney resorts to try to prevent accidents like this from happening in the future.
What do you think of Disney’s decision? Let me know on social media!
Roger Palmer
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