Gabrielle Russon
Disney backed down Monday from the company’s controversial legal strategy using the Disney+ terms and conditions against a widower’s wrongful death lawsuit at Walt 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 Raglan Road Pub and Irish Restaurant after his wife died last year from severe food allergies following her meal at Disney Springs.
To fight back, Disney’s attorneys 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.
Piccolo’s attorney Brian Denney, who could not be reached for comment late Monday, called Disney’s legal strategy “preposterous” and “absurd.”
The case received national attention and public backlash after Florida Politics broke the story.
D’Amaro’s statement is a reversal from a week ago, when the company defended its legal strategy as “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, the lawsuit said. She ate dinner at 8 p.m. and collapsed in Disney Springs 45 minutes later while separated from her family, who decided to split up. 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.”
