Disney Claims Man Can’t Sue the Company over Wife’s Death Because he Agreed to Disney+ Terms of Service
The Walt Disney Company is attempting to have a wrongful death lawsuit filed against them dismissed and settled through arbitration, citing a subscription agreement the plaintiff signed years ago for Disney+. The lawsuit was filed by Jeffrey Piccolo, the widower of a 42-year-old New York woman who died from a fatal allergic reaction after dining at a restaurant in DisneyWorld last October.
Disney argues that because Piccolo subscribed to Disney+ in 2019, her agreed to settle any disputes with the company through arbitration rather than in court.
“The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration clause,” Disney argued in its 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.’”
Piccolo’s legal team has labeled Disney’s attempt to invoke the Disney+ agreement in this context as “absurd.” They argue that agreeing to the terms of service for a streaming platform should not extend to disputes unrelated to that service.
His attorney, Brian Denney, wrote, “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.”
“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 continued. “Frankly, any such suggestion borders on the absurd.”
The wrongful death lawsuit stems from an incident in which Piccolo, his mother, and his wife, Tangsuan, dined at an Irish Pub and Restaurant at Disney World. They claimed the restaurant advertsisied as having “proper safeguard to protect patrons” who have allergies. Tangsuan, who had severe allergies to nuts and dairy, informed the waiter of her condition and was assured that the food would be free from allergens. However, approximately 45 minutes after eating, Tangsuan experienced difficulty breathing and, despite administering her EpiPen, collapsed and later died at a hospital.
A medical exmainer concluded her cause of death was related to “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system.”
