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Apparently, if you’re a lawyer working for the Walt Disney Company, there is no holiday break. Just two days before Christmas, Disney filed a new lawsuit against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and its Board, seeking records that the Board had withheld from Disney. The suit claimed that the Board appointed by Florid Governor Ron DeSantis failed to preserve and turn over public records “in violation of Florida law and the state’s constitution.”
Credit: Disney/ Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Related: Calls Grow Louder For DeSantis Disney Board Member to Resign
And now, just four days before the start of the New Year, Disney’s lawyers have decided not to wait for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to respond to that lawsuit. Disney has asked an Orange County Judge to force the Board to turn over all of the records Disney has requested within the next seven days. In its filing, Disney accuses the District of dragging its feet and withholding documents, which has kept Disney from mounting a defense and preparing its countersuit.
The District has repeatedly missed agreed-upon deadlines and deprived [Walt Disney Parks and Resorts] of the critical discovery it needs to develop its affirmative defenses, counterclaims, and arguments in opposition to the District’s Complaint. Despite WDPR’s good faith efforts to obtain discovery from the District, the Court’s intervention is now necessary to ensure that WDPR can fairly defend itself against the District’s claims and advance its counterclaims…
WDPR cannot let more time pass waiting for the District to fulfill its empty promises to produce the critical discovery WDPR needs both to defend against the District’s claims and advance its own counterclaims.
Images Credit: Disney, National Urban League, Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Board Member Interviews
But more than just records, Disney wants the Judge to compel the new Board members and District Administrator Glen Gilzean to sit for interviews with Disney lawyers to determine what their qualifications are to sit on the Board that oversees Walt Disney World. Disney contended that the new Board members and District Administrator’s only qualification is loyalty to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
WDPR is entitled to know why District Administrator Glenton Gilzean and the new District Board members were selected for their respective roles—chiefly, whether the District Administrator and the new District Board were selected based on their willingness to continue the State’s campaign of retaliation against WDPR for expressing a viewpoint that Governor DeSantis and his legislative allies disagree with.
In the past, the Board appointed by Governor DeSantis to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District has been accused of not fully understanding the scope of the District it now controls. Since the Board took over last February, more than 45 employees, 12 percent of the total workforce, have quit the District. Those who have left have described the Board as “unqualified and incompetent.” In September, the Washington Post described the District Administrator and the CFTOD Board as a “bunch of novices” in a scathing article about its governing of the Walt Disney World District.
Credit: Disney
Related: DeSantis Allies Get Another Huge No-Bid Contract From His Disney District Board
The Board has also been accused of giving out big contracts to DeSantis’ allies. The Board is spending millions at a Washington, D.C. law firm with close ties to the governor and no-bid contracts to a public relations firm that represents several DeSantis allies.
This is another chapter in the ongoing battle between the Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Disney has sued the governor in Federal Court, claiming government retaliation and that the governor infringed on its First Amendment Rights. Lawyers for DeSantis have asked a Federal Judge to dismiss Disney’s case against him as he has “legislative immunity.”
The CFTOD sued Disney in State Court to get any deals it struck with the previous Board made null and void. Disney countersued, claiming that the Board violated the Contracts Clause of the Constitution.
We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
