Disney has asked a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this year regarding a woman who passed away due to anaphylaxis after a meal at Disney Springs, citing an arbitration waiver in the terms and conditions for Disney+.
Disney Springs Wrongful Death Lawsuit Update
According to Newsday, Disney has asked a Florida court to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Piccolo, husband of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a doctor at NYU Langone in New York City, who passed away after eating a meal at Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs in October 2023.
Tangsuan had a severe dairy and nut allergy and informed the waitstaff at the restaurant of her dietary needs, and was “unequivocally assured” they could be accommodated. She ordered and ate the “Sure I’m Frittered” vegetarian broccoli and corn fritters, the “Scallop Forest” sea scallops appetizer, the “This Shepherd Went Vegan” entree, and a side of onion rings.
After their meal, Piccolo returned to their hotel room, and Tangsuan and her mother-in-law continued to shop at Disney Springs. later that evening, Tangsuan had an acute allergic reaction in Planet Hollywood, self-administered an EpiPen, and was transported to a local hospital, where she later died.
In the latest update for the Disney Springs wrongful death lawsuit, Disney cited legal language within the terms and conditions for Disney+, which “requires users to arbitrate all disputes with the company.” Disney claims Piccolo reportedly agreed to this in 2019 when signing up for a one-month free trial of the streaming service on his PlayStation console.
In the May 31 motion filed to move the wrongful death lawsuit to arbitration, Disney attorneys said that the Disney+ subscriber agreement states that any dispute, except for small claims, “must be resolved by individual binding arbitration.” Disney says that similar language was agreed to by Piccolo when he used the My Disney Experience app to purchase tickets to visit EPCOT at Walt Disney World in September 2023. Tangsuan died before she and Piccolo could use the tickets.
“Whether Piccolo actually reviewed the Disney terms is also immaterial,” the motion says.
Arbitration is defined by the Legal Information Institute as “an alternative dispute resolution method where the parties in dispute agree to have their case heard by a qualified arbitrator out of court.”
Attorneys for Piccolo called Disney’s latest motion “preposterous,” and that it’s “‘absurd’ to believe that the 153 million subscribers to the popular streaming service have waived all claims against the company and its affiliates because of language ‘buried’ within the terms and conditions,” according to Newsday.
The notion that terns 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.
Brian Denny, Piccolo’s West Palm Beach attorney in a filing on August 2, 2024
In that same August 2 filing, attorneys for Piccolo cite that Piccolo is serving as a plaintiff in this case on behalf of his wife and her estate, not as an individual, and that his wife’s estate did not exist at the time of him signing up for a free trial of Disney+. Piccolo’s attorneys claim that Disney is “attempting to enforce an agreement that it never signed against a party who also never signed.”
“This argument borders on the surreal,” said Piccolo’s attorneys in the filing.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and their attorneys declined Newsday’s request for comment.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.