Disney wants wrongful death suit thrown out because widower bought an Epcot ticket and had Disney+

Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — A man suing Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for nan wrongful decease of his woman is facing a caller ineligible hurdle: Disney is trying to get it dismissed and sent to arbitration — because he signed up for Disney+ years earlier.

Court documents show that nan institution is trying to get nan $50,000 suit dismissed because nan plaintiff, Jeffrey Piccolo, signed up for a one-month proceedings of nan streaming work Disney+ successful 2019, which requires proceedings users to arbitrate each disputes pinch nan company. Company lawyers besides declare that because Piccolo utilized nan Walt Disney Parks’ website to bargain Epcot Center tickets, Disney is shielded from a suit from nan property of Piccolo’s deceased wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died of a guidance to terrible nutrient allergies.

In a ineligible filing responding to Disney’s claims, Piccolo’s lawyer Brian Denney called Disney’s statement “preposterous” and said that nan conception that signing up for a Disney+ free proceedings would barroom a customer’s correct to a assemblage proceedings “with immoderate Disney connection aliases subsidiary, is truthful outrageously unreasonable and unfair arsenic to daze nan judicial conscience.”

Walt Disney Parks and Resort is “explicitly seeking to barroom its 150 cardinal Disney+ subscribers from ever prosecuting a wrongful decease lawsuit against it successful beforehand of a assemblage moreover if nan lawsuit facts person thing to pinch Disney+,” Denney wrote successful tribunal papers arsenic a response.

Piccolo is seeking damages successful excess of $50,000 pursuant to Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, arsenic good arsenic damages for intelligence symptom and suffering, nonaccomplishment of companionship and protection, nonaccomplishment of income and aesculapian and ceremonial expenses.

Disney didn’t instantly respond to CNN’s petition for comment.

In October 2023, Kanokporn Tangsuan, her hubby Jeffrey Piccolo and Piccolo’s mother dined astatine Raglan Road Irish Pub successful Disney Springs, which is portion of nan Walt Disney World edifice successful Florida. They chose to eat astatine nan restaurant, nan suit states, because they believed it would person due safeguards against serving dairy and nuts to Tangsuan owed to her allergies.

The waiter guaranteed nan mates that definite foods could beryllium made allergen-free, which nan 2 confirmed “several much times,” according to nan lawsuit. She besides ordered a vegan fritter, scallops, bulb rings and a vegan shepherd’s pie.

Although immoderate of nan nutrient delivered lacked allergen-free flags, nan waiter again assured them it was allergen free, but aft dinner, Tangsuan, 42, went shopping successful nan Disney Springs area and began “suffering from a terrible acute allergic reaction,” according to nan lawsuit.

Despite self-administering an Epi-Pen, Tangsuan died from “anaphylaxis owed to elevated levels of dairy and seed successful her system,” nan suit said, attributing nan accusation to a aesculapian examiner’s investigation.