In March 2022, ex-Disney CEO Bob Chapek destroyed his relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis when he spoke out against Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education Bill — also called the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”. DeSantis told Disney, in not-so-nice terms, that they need to be quiet because they don’t run the state. The House of Mouse paused political donations in the Sunshine State. The Governor then teamed up with the Florida state legislature to strip Disney of rights that it had enjoyed for decades.
Things have only gotten worse since that time, and now Disney is suing not only the governor, but also the board that DeSantis appointed to run the former Reedy Creek District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Committee). DeSantis has filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming he has “legislative immunity.” He has also asked that the judge set the trial for August 2025. Disney wants it to begin in July 2024. Constitutional law experts mostly agree that Disney has a strong case, and the fact that DeSantis wants to wait so long for a trial shows that his case is weak.
The suit against DeSantis is not the only lawsuit that Disney was recently embroiled in. On June 28, a Delaware judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against Disney by investor Kenneth Simeone. In December 2022, Simeone filed a lawsuit against Disney. He claimed that the company’s response to the Parental Rights bill caused Disney’s stock to tank, costing investors millions. On March 1, 2022, Disney’s stock price was at $145 per share. On July 14, that price had shrunk to $92 per share. Simeone had requested all internal communications that related to Disney’s response to the law.
The judge dismissed the case for reasons that may not be expected. The judge said that the lawsuit was being dismissed because Simeone filed the lawsuit against Disney at the instruction of the Thomas More Society. The Thomas More Society is an ultra-right-wing conservative legal group that is also staunchly anti-abortion. The judge said that while Simeone, his fellow investors, and his lawyers “may disagree with Disney’s position” on the Parental Rights Bill, that does not mean that Disney did anything wrong.
Delaware law allows an investor to request to look at the internal records and communications of a company if they can provide sufficient proof that there is a reason to look at them. That evidence must relate to the person’s interest as an investor. However, in Simeone’s case against Disney, the judge said that it was “lawyer-driven” in nature. The Thomas More Society paid for the lawsuit, and Simeone could not even remember if he had requested Disney’s internal communications or if the lawyers had written it in. He also admitted that he did not see the news articles included in the lawsuit to support his claim.
