A New York man who filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for his wife’s wrongful death says Disney wants the case dismissed and moved to arbitration due to his previous Disney+ subscription.
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, Disney is pushing to have the lawsuit dismissed because the plaintiff, Jeffrey Piccolo, signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019, which includes an agreement to arbitrate any disputes with the company.
Disney also argued that since Piccolo used the Walt Disney Parks website to purchase Epcot Center tickets, the company is protected from a lawsuit by the estate of Piccolo’s late wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan. She passed away due to a severe allergic reaction after eating a meal with nuts and dairy at Disneyworld’s Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant restaurant.
The waiter at the restaurant, according to the lawsuit, assured Tangsuan that the food was safe. However, she began “suffering from a severe acute allergic reaction,” following the meal, and passed away despite using an Epi-Pen.
Court documents indicated that Tangsuan died from “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system.”
The company asserted that since the plaintiffs signed up for Disney’s streaming service, they agreed that any lawsuits must be resolved through third-party arbitration.
Piccolo’s attorney, Brian Denney, called Disney’s argument “absurd” and stated that the idea that signing up for a Disney+ free trial could prevent someone from pursuing a jury trial against a Disney affiliate or subsidiary is “so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience.”
Denney also noted that Disney is “explicitly seeking to prevent its 150 million Disney+ subscribers from ever bringing a wrongful death case against it before a jury, even when the case has no connection to Disney+.”
CNN reports that Piccolo is seeking damages exceeding $50,000 under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, along with compensatory damages.
A hearing is scheduled for October 2. Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
