There has been quite a shakeup in the Disney vs. DeSantis battle happening in Florida now.
Recently, Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the new Reedy Creek Improvement District board (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) after they found some key agreements Disney made with the previous board void. DeSantis has since responded to the lawsuit and scheduled a special meeting to address the lawsuit. And now that the meeting has happened, we’ve got an update on the lawsuit.
On April 27th, a special meeting for May 1st, 2023 was added to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board’s calendar with the only agenda being “Board discussion and direction to litigation counsel and authorization to defend District officials sued in official capacities.” Essentially, the Board wanted to meet to discuss the recent lawsuit filed against them by Disney.
At its core, Disney argues that the Governor has unlawfully retaliated against Disney because of the statements Disney made against the Don’t Say Gay law. Essentially, the lawsuit alleges that all of the actions taken against Disney — from the bill that first said it would dissolve the District to the latest actions by the board in declaring the Development Agreement void — have been part of DeSantis’ “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against Disney.
Now that the meeting has taken place, we know what the Board’s next move will be — and apparently, it’s to sue Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Martin Garcia, Chairman of the Board, said during the meeting, “Since Disney sued us, we have no choice but to respond.”
He then said the Board would authorize legal action in response to Disney’s federal lawsuit and said that the District would “seek justice” in state court.
Garcia continued, This is why we called today’s meeting, to authorize legal action in response to Disney’s federal lawsuit. This district will seek justice in state court here in Central Florida where both it and Disney reside and do business. Yes, we’ll seek justice in our own backyard.”
And then, Garcia filed an official motion. “I’d like to make a motion to authorize a state court lawsuit to be filed by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts USA, Inc.” The motion passed unanimously.
Garcia and the Board failed to share much about the basis of the lawsuit, but mentioned that it was being filed “to enforce legislative findings.” We’ll have to wait until a lawsuit is officially filed by the Board for more details, but we’ll keep an eye out for when that happens.
To learn more about Disney’s lawsuit and what they’ve alleged, click here. You can also click here for DeSantis’ response, see what the Florida Legislature has been up to with regards to Reedy Creek, or click here for our FULL post covering every detail of the entire situation.
Stay tuned for more news.
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First problem with the Disney lawsuit is there is no “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida. Never was. Disney characterizing it as such was the start of their problems. #mousebullies