Disney Is Trying to Throw Out a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Because the Victim Signed Up For Disney+

AP Photo/John Raoux

Lawyers representing The Walt Disney Company argued that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the husband of a woman who died as the result of a severe allergic reaction at Disney Springs had to be thrown out — because he signed up for a free trial of the Disney+ streaming service in 2019 and agreed to the Terms of Use.

Kanokporn Tangsuan , a 42-year-old physician, died in October 2023 after she and her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo , ate at an Irish pub in Disney Springs. The restaurant, Raglan Road — which is not owned or operated by Disney — advertised itself as having “allergen free food” available to those who needed it, and Tangsuan ordered items that she was told were allergen free. The couple also informed their server that she had a “severe allergy to nuts and dairy products.” But about 45 minutes after their meal, Tangsuan experienced difficulty breathing and collapsed, and she died at the hospital. The medical examiner reported that she had “elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system.”

Piccolo sued Disney for $50,000.

But in its motion to dismiss Piccolo’s suit, Disney cited his free trial subscription of the Disney+ streaming service, which required his agreement to their Terms of Use. The Hollywood Reporter wrote :

“The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration clause,” the company wrote in its motion. “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 by individual binding arbitration’.”

In addition to the Disney+ free trial, Piccolo also created an account when he signed up for a Disney app ahead of the couple’s October 2023 visit. That also required his agreement to Disney’s Terms of Use, which contained a “similar” arbitration agreement.

Piccolo’s attorney Brian Denney responded thusly in an August 2 filing:

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, and this court should not enforce such an agreement.

Disney responded on Wednesday in an email to THR: “We are merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant.”