Disney fires back at DeSantis, files suit claiming ‘retaliation’
Citing “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. has sued Gov. Ron DeSantis for violating its First Amendment and property rights when the company voiced opposition to his ban on gender identity discussions in Florida schools and the state invalidated its contracts.
The 77-page lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of Florida, asks the court to block legislation passed by lawmakers earlier this year that shifted control of the governing board of the special taxing district from the property owners to DeSantis.
The lawsuit was filed just moments after the DeSantis-appointed board of the Central Florida Tourism and Oversight District voted on Wednesday to void development contracts which the company claims “had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs.”
“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,’’ the lawsuit states.
“...In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”
DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske did not respond to the merits of the lawsuit but continued to criticize the company.
“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,’’ she said in a statement. “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.”
READ MORE: ‘A legal mess’: Disney district’s DeSantis-appointed board voids previous agreements
The lawsuit begins what is expected to be a lengthy legal battle between one of the state’s largest employers and Florida’s ambitious governor, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in the coming month.
What Disney asserts in lawsuit
Disney claims that the governor and Legislature had not only violated its constitutional rights by targeting it for retaliation, but by replacing the Disney-appointed board governing the Reedy Creek special taxing district with a DeSantis-appointed board the state “shifted the power” from the landowners to the governor in violation of their property rights.
The dispute began when Disney employees pressured the company to take a stand against the 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act, HB 1557, called by critics the “don’t say gay” bill.
CEO Bob Chapek initially attempted to stay out of the fray but, after some California employees walked out, he sent a message to all employees “especially our LGBTQ+ community,” apologized that company didn’t act sooner, announced that Disney was pausing all political contributions in the state and then said the bill should never have become law.
DeSantis responded, asking the Legislature to revoke Disney’s special district and self-governing status, effective in June 2023.
Disney’s lawsuit relies on the governor’s public statements, his campaign fundraising emails, news releases and the governor’s recently-released memoir to make the case that the governor “conjured” up rationales to justify the action to avoid claims he was acting in retaliation.
“These rationales did not make sense,’’ the lawsuit argues.
For example, DeSantis argued that the goal of dissolving Disney’s special taxing district was to apply renewed accountability to all districts established before 1967 to make sure they were “appropriately serving the public interest” and entitled to special treatment under the law.
But, the lawsuit quotes DeSantis’ memoir where he “admitted that he ‘found’ that there was this ‘handful of other districts’ that ‘also deserved scrutiny’ only after his ‘staff worked with the legislative staff in the House’ to target Disney.”
The bill that was passed made no attempt to make sure the districts “are appropriately serving the public interest,’’ the lawsuit states.
Legal experts speculated about a Disney suit
For the past year, legal scholars have argued that Disney had grounds to sue the governor for violating its right to speak out after legislators passed and the governor signed into law the bill dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
But, rather than immediately file a lawsuit, the company held its fire and “sought to de-escalate the matter for nearly a year.”
It said that it tried several times to spark a productive dialogue with the DeSantis Administration,’’ but that was: “To no avail.”
When that failed, Disney quietly lined up its legal options and used the last public meeting of the governing board in February to secure new development agreements that would freeze the agreements that were in place with the governing district for years to come.
Unaware this had happened, legislators called a special session to restore the legal authority of the special taxing district while replacing the board overseeing the district with DeSantis appointees.
When those appointees voided the contracts between the company and the district on Wednesday, and legislators advanced legislation to do the same, Disney launched the lawsuit.
“There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the State for doing so,’’ the lawsuit states.
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she hadn’t seen the lawsuit but argued there was “a difference between the policy and the politics.”
“Is that good policy at the last minute to make changes,’’ she said. “Frankly, I don’t think that is good policy.”
Disney accuses DeSantis, legislators and “the Governor’s handpicked local government regulators” of “employing the machinery of the State in a coordinated campaign to damage Disney’s ability to do business in Florida.”
The lawsuit says the governor’s board “misunderstands” the governing law and has put the company in a defensive posture.
What the lawsuit asks the court to do
The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate legislation that attempts to end Disney’s contracts with the special taxing district and declare that lawmakers illegally took “Disney’s property rights without payment of just compensation” when it attempted to void the actions of the Disney-backed board that governs the district.
“Because both pieces of legislation retaliate against Disney for its protected speech, Disney is entitled to a declaratory judgment that the laws are unconstitutional and an order enjoining Defendants from enforcing them,’’ the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also takes aim at the Republican-controlled Legislature, accusing it of doing a “cursory” analysis of the impact of the legislation it passed to dissolve the taxing district and quoting several members whose comments they say prove the goal was retaliation.
“Having exhausted all other options, Disney is left with no choice but to bring this complaint asking the Court to stop the State of Florida from weaponizing the power of government to punish private business,’’ the company concludes.
The company asks for no financial damages, only attorneys costs and fees.
Miami Herald staff writer Grethel Aguila contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 12:40 PM.
