Disney Tries To Toss Wrongful Death Suit Because Widower Agreed To Disney+ Terms Of Service

Disney is attempting to get a wrongful death lawsuit tossed out of court and settled in arbitration because the widower agreed to the Disney+ terms of service years ago.

The family of a 42-year-old New York woman is suing the company after Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan experienced a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub at a Disneyworld restaurant in Florida last October. But now Disney requested that Florida courts toss the case because the plaintiff, widower Jeffrey Piccolo, had signed up for Disney’s streaming service agreeing to decide any disputes with the company through third-party arbitration, per Law & Crime.

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

Lawyers for Piccolo called the motion “absurd,” arguing that the plaintiff agreeing to the Disney+ terms of service in 2019 should not mean he waived the right to sue the company for all matters unrelated to the streaming platform.

“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,” Piccolo’s attorney Brian Denney wrote. 

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“There is simply no reading of the Disney+ Subscriber Agreement, the only Agreement Mr. Piccolo allegedly assented to in creating his Disney+ account, which would support the notion that he was agreeing on behalf of his wife or her estate, to arbitrate injuries sustained by his wife at a restaurant located on premises owned by a Disney theme park or resort from which she died,” the motion says. “Frankly, any such suggestion borders on the absurd.”

Company lawyers said that Piccolo’s use of the Disney website to buy Epcot Center tickets further protected Disney from going to court due to similar terms of service agreements that would require arbitration for all disputes. 

Piccolo, his mother, and Tangsuan ate at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant because it was advertised as having “proper safeguards to protect patrons” with food allergies, per the lawsuit. Tangsuan advised the waiter that she was highly allergic to nuts and dairy products and was “guaranteed” that the food was free from allergens, as indicated on the menu. 

Tangsuan began having difficulty breathing about 45 minutes after consuming the meal. She collapsed and died at a hospital despite self-administering an EpiPen.

The medical examiner concluded that Tangsuan died by “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” per the lawsuit.

There is a court hearing currently scheduled for October 2 in Orlando.