Remember how many times recently when signing up for a streaming service you accepted the general protocol and gave the green light to the “terms and conditions” without giving it much thought? This Disney lawsuit will put a lot of things in perspective and make you retrace your steps in fear of the future.
A New York woman, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died in February from severe allergies after consuming food containing allergens at a Disney World restaurant. Months after the tragedy, her husband, Jeffrey J Piccolo, sued Disney Parks and Resorts in February. However, the company is now trying hard to dismiss this wrongful death lawsuit simply because the widower opened a Disney Plus account several years ago.
What does the lawsuit against Disney say?
Piccolo’s complaint states that he, his wife and his mother went to dinner at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant at the Orlando Resort in Florida on October 5 because the restaurant was advertised on Disney’s website as a place with “allergen-free food.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Tangsuan repeatedly told the waitress that she had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products, and that they were eventually “guaranteed” that the food was allergen-free.
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About 45 minutes after the 42-year-old doctor finished eating, she began having trouble breathing. She was shopping when it happened. Tangsuan, who was a doctor at NYU Langone Health, eventually collapsed and died in the hospital, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also states that the medical examiner determined the cause of her shock was “anaphylaxis due to increased amounts of milk and nuts in her body.”
Disney’s response to the wrongful death lawsuit
That’s where Disney’s article comes in. This week, the company released a statement expressing its “deep sadness” over the family’s loss. In response to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, Disney claimed that the Irish pub in question is neither owned nor operated by the company, according to the Associated Press report.
A company spokesperson told NBC News: “We are deeply saddened by the family’s loss and understand their grief. Because this restaurant is not owned or operated by Disney, we are simply defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in his lawsuit against the restaurant.”
To further draw attention to the T&C clause that Piccolo agreed to when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney Plus in 2019, the company argued that he had agreed to settle any claims against them out of court through arbitration.
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“The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states in all capital letters that ‘any dispute between you and us, except for small claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved through individual binding arbitration,'” Disney wrote in dismissing the $50,000 lawsuit.
In court documents filed in May of this year, Disney also said it accepted the same terms when purchasing tickets on the Walt Disney Parks website.
Piccolo’s lawyers responded to Disney’s argument earlier this month, calling the reasoning “absurd.” They also stressed that it was “absurd” to agree that over 150 million Disney Plus subscribers had waived all rights to sue the company and its subsidiaries, especially considering that Piccolo’s case has nothing to do with the streaming service. They also stressed that he signed up for the Disney Plus account on his PlayStation but canceled it during the free trial period.
“There is simply nothing in the Disney+ subscription agreement that would support the notion that Mr. Piccolo agreed to settle claims related to injuries sustained by his wife at a restaurant on the property of a Disney theme park or resort that ultimately resulted in her death,” his lawyers said.
