Disney sues Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for 'campaign of government retaliation'

Apr 26, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California

Posted: Wednesday April 26, 2023 12:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis following today's board meeting of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District where it approved the motion to void Disney's agreements with Reedy Creek.

Named in the lawsuit alongside the Governor is the entire DeSantis appointed board of the new governing district. Law firms Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP of New York, O'Melveny & Myers LLP of Los Angeles, and Losey PLLC of Orlando Florida are acting as attorneys for Disney.

In the lawsuit, Disney asks the Court to:

Declare that the Legislative Declaration is unlawful and unenforceable because it abrogates Disney’s rights in violation of the Contracts Clause;
Declare that the Legislative Declaration is an unlawful taking of Disney’s property rights without payment of just compensation in violation of the Takings Clause;
Declare that the Legislative Declaration is unlawful and unenforceable because it was an arbitrary and irrational voiding of the Development Agreement and Restrictive Covenants in violation of the Due Process Clause;
Declare that the Legislative Declaration is unlawful and unenforceable because it was enacted in retaliation for Disney’s speech in violation of the First Amendment;
Declare that the Contracts remain in effect and enforceable;
Declare that Senate Bill 4C and House Bill 9B are unlawful and unenforceable because they were enacted in retaliation for Disney’s political speech in violation of the First Amendment;
Issue an order enjoining Defendants from enforcing the Legislative Declaration;
Issue an order enjoining Defendants from enforcing Senate Bill 4C and House Bill 9B;
Award Plaintiff its attorney’s fees and costs; and
Grant such other relief as this Court may deem just and pro

In a federal court filing with the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Florida, Disney says:

1. For more than half a century, Disney has made an immeasurable impact on Florida and its economy, establishing Central Florida as a top global tourist destination and attracting tens of millions of visitors to the State each year. People and families from every corner of the globe have traveled to Walt Disney World because of the unrivaled guest experience it provides and the deep emotional connection that generations of fans have with Disney's timeless stories and characters.
2. A targeted campaign of government retaliation-orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech-now threatens Disney's business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.
3. Today's action is the latest strike: At the Governor's bidding, the State's oversight board has purported to "void" publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney's investment dollars and thousands of jobs. This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional. But the Governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop. The Governor recently declared that his team would not only "void the development agreement"-just as they did today-but also planned "to look at things like taxes on the hotels," "tolls on the roads," "developing some of the property that the district owns" with "more amusement parks," and even putting a "state prison" next to Walt Disney World. "Who knows? I just think the possibilities are endless," he said.
4. Disney regrets that it has come to this. But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.

You can read the entire 77 pages of the lawsuit here.

Following Disney's lawsuit filing today, the governor's office released a statment. "We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state. This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law."

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Charlie The Chatbox Ghost15 days ago

Thanks for the clarification!

lazyboy97o15 days ago

The district has not yet changed what requires development review. They made themselves the planning board. The threat is that they can change the development requirements to require more review which gives them significant latitude to interfere with projects. Universal now has two special districts, one for each campus. Reedy Creek Improvement District was unique which is part of how and why it was targeted. The districts that encompass Universal Orlando Resort were created by Orlando and Orange County, not directly by the state. They also don’t have the same type of structure or powers.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost15 days ago

Agh, I used the wrong wording again, I was thinking “county” when I said district. I have no clue why I keep mixing up words, but I do it a lot haha. I think we’re on the same page here, minus my repeated mix up of terms. The deal as originally penned would’ve been worse off for everyone involved except DeSantis, and the deal as it ended up is slightly better but still not perfect. There was no reason to destroy RCID except for DeSantis wanting to win the MAGA/anti-“woke” base for the 2024 election- it was a fake culture war PR stunt, essentially. “Look, I’m gonna attack the company that stopped donating to our anti-LGBTQ bill only after they were caught donating in the first place! Please vote for me!” DeSantis didn’t even come close to winning the election in the end, nor did he secure a place in the administration (Trump even dislikes DeSantis iirc) so even he lost what he was setting out to do. Universal has a special district too, right? I know there’s a few other than Disney that haven’t been touched since they’ve either kept their heads down or are openly supporting DeSantis and his policies.

LAKid5316 days ago

There are no neighboring "districts". The 40 some odd square miles reside within both Orange and Osceola Counties. Neither county wanted to assume the burden...nor did we taxpayers (property owners). One reason the first bill abolishing the district had to be repealed and another bill renaming the district & changing the operating structure was passed. Abolishing the district also impacted the outstanding bonds and would have put taxpayers, not TWDC, on the hook for repayment - a portion of the district's assessment repays the bonds. And it would have been ALL taxpayers, not just those of us in Orange & Osceola counties. Duke would have picked up supplying electricity to the property. Orange County would have covered waste, water & sewage....part of which is paid by property taxes. The taxpayers of the state paid the state's legal bills. Which taxpayers always pay. And by tax payers I mean both state residents and the 120 million who visit the state every year...the tax is state sales tax. As I said, it wasn't broken and both Orange & Osceola counties benefited from the relationship. Neither county was responsible for providing services but both received funding via property taxes paid by TWDC. Which the company every year disputed the amount.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost16 days ago

Yeah, this is what I had meant when I said "taxpayer funding", like your average person's taxes going to it and not just Disney's taxes. That's what I thought the original plan was, essentially making Disney's land and therefore utilities a part of the neighboring districts through dissolving Reedy Creek, but obviously that didn't happen and now it's just Reedy Creek with governmental red tape. Either way, all the legal stuff wasted taxpayer money in the end! We'll see what happens in the future I guess. If DeSantis's appointees didn't shoot down Tropical Americas for being "woke" or whatever then I doubt they're really playing much into the manufactured culture war anymore.

LAKid5316 days ago

Disney IS a taxpayer as the taxes being paid are property taxes and it's the largest taxpayer in the district. It's also paying taxes to both Orange & Osceola counties. The special district still exists. It's just not "constructed" in the same manner as before, i.e., residents of the district elect supervisory board members. Nor does Disney have as much control over projects as before. I've said it before....it wasn't broken, there was no need to fix it. And in the process of trying to fix something NOT broken, taxpayer monies were wasted....and I mean ALL Floridians.

JoeCamel16 days ago

Disney IS the taxpayer.......

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost16 days ago

ah, my bad, for some reason I misremembered the terms of the deal. I thought the big thing about it was taxpayer funding instead of Disney funding. Yeah, that final deal sounds bad for Disney then. I guess they’re gonna have to keep their nose down for awhile Still BS that all the other special districts exist but Disneys doesn’t

lazyboy97o16 days ago

The funding sources of the district didn’t change. Development approval processes weren’t changed but that threat remains available if Disney steps too far out of line. What makes it a better deal? Disney now has no say whatever happens. They fund everything but are entirely dependent on a governing body with almost no accountability.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost16 days ago

I mean I guess technically, though I thought the new replacement for Reedy Creek is essentially the same as the old one but now Disney doesn’t fund it entirely themselves anymore? Minus having to get approval for things (which at this rate it seems like they’ll approve anything) it’s a better deal for Disney. At least until they’re a conservative target again, then they’ll likely go hard on Disney to get some voter brownie points lol

Tha Realest16 days ago

While there appears to be an implicit detenté right now between Disney and Florida, that can always change much more to Disney’s detriment than the state’s.