The Disney theme parks leader backed down Monday from the company's controversial legal strategy using the Disney+ terms and conditions against a widower's wrongful death lawsuit at Disney World.
"At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations," Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro said in a statement Monday night. "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."
Jeffrey Piccolo sued Disney and the independently-run Raglan Road Pub and Irish Restaurant after his wife died last year from her severe food allergies following her meal at Disney Springs.
To fight back, Disney's attorneys had argued the lawsuit should be paused and sent to arbitration — without going before a jury, like Piccolo wanted — because Piccolo once signed up for Disney+ and bought theme park tickets in an app where Disney's terms and conditions say legal disputes must go to arbitration, the entertainment giant argued.
Piccolo's attorney Brian Denney, who could not be reached for comment late Monday, had called Disney's legal strategy "preposterous" and "absurd" to invoke Disney+ involving a lawsuit filed for a Walt Disney World incident.
The case had gotten national attention and a public backlash in recent days after Florida Politics broke the story.
D'Amaro's statement is a reversal from a week ago when the company defended its legal strategy and said it was "merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff's attorney's attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant."
Piccolo is suing both Disney and Raglan Road in his Orange Circuit Court lawsuit filed in February.
Piccolo's 42-year-old wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, was a beloved doctor from New York.
She had severe allergies to dairy and nuts so she checked with the restaurant several times to make sure her food was safe, according to the lawsuit. She ate dinner at 8 p.m. and 45 minutes later, she collapsed in Disney Springs, separated from her family who decided to split up after dinner on their vacation. Tangsuan died alone at the hospital. The Medical Examiner's Office ruled her Oct. 5 death an accident and said the cause of death was from anaphylaxis.
"Jeff really wants to make sure that this never happens to anyone else," Denney told Florida Politics in February. "It's very important to him that people are aware that people with severe allergies like this should be taken seriously. And he doesn't want this to happen to anybody else's family."
No comments:
Post a Comment