Aย man suing Walt Disney Parks and Resortsย for the wrongful death of his wife is facing a new legal hurdle: Disney is trying to get it thrown out of court and sent to arbitration โ because he signed up for Disney+ years earlier.
Court documents show that the company is trying to get the $50,000 lawsuit tossed because the plaintiff, Jeffrey Piccolo, signed up for a one-month trial of the streaming service Disney+ in 2019, which requires trial users to arbitrate all disputes with the company.
Company lawyers also claim that because Piccolo used the Walt Disney Parksโ website to buy Epcot Center tickets, Disney is shielded from a lawsuit from the estate of Piccoloโs deceased wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died of a reaction to severe food allergies.
In a legal filing responding to Disneyโs claims, Piccoloโs lawyer Brian Denney called Disneyโs argument โpreposterousโ and said that the notion that signing up for a Disney+ free trial would bar a customerโs right to a jury trial โwith any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience.โ
Walt Disney Parks and Resort is โexplicitly 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+,โ Denney wrote in court papers as a response.
Piccolo is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 pursuant to Floridaโs Wrongful Death Act, as well as damages for mental pain and suffering, loss of companionship and protection, loss of income and medical and funeral expenses.
The waiter guaranteed the couple that certain foods could be made allergen-free, which the two confirmed โseveral more times,โ according to the lawsuit. She also ordered a vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherdโs pie.
Although some of the food delivered lacked allergen-free flags, the waiter again assured them it was allergen free, but after dinner, Tangsuan, 42, went shopping in the Disney Springs area and began โsuffering from a severe acute allergic reaction,โ according to the lawsuit.
Despite self-administering an Epi-Pen, Tangsuan died from โanaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,โ the lawsuit said, attributing the information to a medical examinerโs investigation.
