Disney agrees to let widower’s wrongful death lawsuit proceed

( NewsNation ) — The Walt Disney Co. reversed course and will let a court hear a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a man in Florida whose wife died from an allergic reaction after eating at one of their resort restaurants, Reuters reported Monday.

Disney had earlier argued the case should be in arbitration because the man had previously signed up for a trial of its streaming service Disney+ in 2019. Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court. It typically involves an impartial person, chosen by the parties,  who reviews arguments and evidence before making a decision on liability and damages.

“We believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, said in a statement to NewsNation. “As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”

Plaintiff Jeffrey Piccolo, in a lawsuit filed in February, said that he, his wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, and his mother ate at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Spring, an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex at Disney World that is privately owned, last October.

They told their server that Tangsuan had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products. She ordered the vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherd’s pie. Despite some items not being served with “allergen free flags,” the server “guaranteed” that the food was allergen-free, according to the lawsuit.

About 45 minutes after they were done with dinner, though, the family was out shopping when Tangsuan had difficulty breathing and collapsed. Tangsuan later died at the hospital even though she self-administered an EpiPen.  A medical examiner’s investigation found she died as a result of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” per the lawsuit.

NewsNation has reached out to Disney and Piccolo’s attorney for comment. Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 in the lawsuit, according to the Associated Press.

At first, Disney asked a Florida court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying Piccolo, by signing up for the one-month Disney+ trial, had agreed to settle any lawsuits against the company out of court.

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

News of Disney’s request to dismiss the litigation received backlash online, with some calling the company’s reasoning dystopian and encouraging people to cancel their streaming service subscriptions.

Brian Denney, Piccolo’s lawyer, responded in a filing Aug. 2 that it was  “absurd” to think the more than 150 million subscribers to Disney+ waived their rights to sue the company even for issues not related to the streaming service.

“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,” Denney wrote.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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