Does having a Disney+ account bar you from going to trial against Disney?
Disney World is arguing that it cannot be sued in court by a man for the wrongful death of his wife because he agreed to the terms of a free Disney+ trial.
If Disney gets its way in a Florida court, merely signing up for a free trial of Disney+ would forever shield it from being sued in court, including its theme parks. The primus has been called “preposterous” by the attorney representing Jeffery Piccolo, who is suing Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for the wrongful death of his wife.
Kanokporn Tangsuan, a 42-year-old New York doctor, died in October 2023 from what the medical examiner determined to be the result of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” as stated in the lawsuit. Her husband is seeking over $50,000 in damages as well as legal costs.
The couple along with Piccolo’s mother had chosen to dine at Raglan Road, an Irish Pub in Disney Springs, which is part of its resort in Orlando, Florida, because Disney’s website said that it had “allergen free food.” The lawsuit states that they informed the server several times of Tangsuan’s food allergies and were assured that the dishes were allergen-free even though they lacked serving flags to indicate that they were.
Piccolo’s wife began having an allergic reaction less than an hour after finishing dinner while shopping nearby. Despite self-administering an EpiPen she later died at hospital.
A Disney spokesperson expressed the company’s sadness for the family’s loss and empathized with their grief. However, the theme park is only trying to defend itself from being included in the lawsuit which should be against the eatery that they say “is neither owned nor operated by Disney.”
Does having a Disney+ account bar you from going to trial against Disney?
Disney wants to have the case thrown out of court and for it to be handled in arbitration because Piccolo signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019. When he did so, he agreed to the user terms which stipulate that all disputes with the company must be arbitrated. This includes “disputes involving The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates.”
Furthermore, attorneys for the company claim that he again agreed to a similar arbitration provision when he created an account to use the Walt Disney Parks’ website to purchase the tickets for Epcot Center.
Brian Denney, Piccolo’s lawyer, said in the legal filing that just for signing up for a free trial period for the streaming service should force someone to waive their right to a jury trial in perpetuity is “absurd” and “inane.”
“The notion that terms 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,” states the court documents. Additionally, it “borders on the surreal” extending that to wrongful death claims.