NEW YORK — Does your subscription to Disney’s popular streaming service mean you agree to never sue the entertainment giant again?
That’s what Disney claims in a wrongful death lawsuit It involves a 42-year-old New York doctor who, according to his family, suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub in Disney Springs in October.
Disney is asking a Florida court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Piccolo, the husband of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist at NYU Langone’s Carle Place campus on Long Island.
The company alleges that Piccolo agreed to settle any lawsuits against Disney out of court through the arbitration process when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019, acknowledging that he had read the fine print.
“The Terms of Use, which accompanied the Subscription Agreement, contain a binding arbitration clause,” the company wrote in its motion. “The first page of the Subscription 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.’”
But Piccolo’s attorney argued in a response filed earlier this month that it was “absurd” to believe that Disney+’s more than 150 million subscribers have given up all rights to sue the company and its affiliates in perpetuity — even if their case has nothing to do with the popular streaming service.
“The notion that terms a consumer agrees to when creating a free trial account for Disney+ would forever preclude that consumer’s right to a jury trial in a dispute with a Disney affiliate or subsidiary is so grossly unreasonable and unfair as to shock the legal conscience, and this Court should not enforce such an agreement,” Piccolo’s attorney Brian Denney wrote in the Aug. 2 filing.
Spokespeople for the Walt Disney Company and Raglan Road, the Disney Springs pub where Tangsuan dined, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on Wednesday.
But Disney argued in its May 31 filing that it is “immaterial” whether Piccolo actually reviewed the Terms of Service, noting that the arbitration provision “covers all disputes, including disputes involving The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates.”
Arbitration offers people the opportunity to resolve disputes without going to court. It usually involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews the arguments and evidence before making a binding decision or award.
Piccolo filed a lawsuit in February alleging that on October 5, 2023, he, his wife and his mother dined at the Raglan Road Irish Pub at Disney Springs, an open-air shopping, dining and entertainment complex at Disney World.
After informing the waitress several times that she had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy and wanted “allergen-free food,” Tangsuan ordered the vegan beignets, scallops, onion rings, and a vegan shepherd’s pie.
The waiter then “guaranteed” that the food was allergen-free, even though some dishes were not served with “allergen-free flags,” the lawsuit says.
About 45 minutes after Tangsuan finished eating, she had difficulty breathing while shopping. She collapsed and eventually died at the hospital, despite having administered an EpiPen to herself during the allergic reaction, the lawsuit said.
A coroner’s investigation later found that she died as a result of “anaphylaxis due to elevated amounts of dairy and nuts in her system,” the lawsuit said.
A hearing on Disney’s motion has been scheduled for Oct. 2 in Orlando County Court. Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 in his lawsuit.
