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

U.S. ARE DEALING WITH ON THIS FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF SUMMER. BUT FIRST, DISNEY IS DEALING WITH A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FROM SOME CAST MEMBERS WHO SAY THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE TO FLORIDA. THOSE EMPLOYEES CAME HERE FROM CALIFORNIA. WESH 2’S BOB HAZEN REPORTS. THIS ALL CENTERS ON THE CANCELED PLANS FOR A LAKE NONA CAMPUS. TWO PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR DISNEY FILED THAT LAWSUIT. THEY SAY THAT THEY WERE TOLD THINGS THAT SIMPLY WERE NOT TRUE. TO CONVINCE THEM TO MAKE THE MOVE FROM CALIFORNIA TO FLORIDA. NOW, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN PART OF THE TEAM THAT WOULD HAVE WORKED AT DISNEY’S LAKE NONA CAMPUS. THAT WAS A HUGE PROJECT THAT WAS ANNOUNCED IN 2021. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BRING 2000 HIGH PAYING JOBS TO CENTRAL FLORIDA, BUT IN MAY OF LAST YEAR, DISNEY SAID IT WAS CANCELING THE PLANS BECAUSE OF WHAT IT CALLED CHANGING BUSINESS CONDITIONS. TWO EMPLOYEES, ONE’S A VICE PRESIDENT, THE OTHER A CREATIVE DIRECTOR ARE NOW SUING. THEY HAD BEEN WORKING IN CALIFORNIA, AND THEY WORRIED THAT THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR JOBS IF THEY DIDN’T MAKE THE MOVE TO FLORIDA. SO THEY SOLD THEIR HOUSES IN CALIFORNIA FOR ONE OF THEM. IT WAS A FAMILY HOME THAT HE’D GROWN UP IN AND INHERITED. THEY BOUGHT NEW HOMES HERE BEFORE FINDING OUT THE LAKE NONA CAMPUS WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. FEARING THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR JOBS, THEY SOLD THEIR HOUSES HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA AND MOVED BACK TO CALIFORNIA. BUT THE LAWSUIT SAYS, QUOTE, HOME PRICES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA HAD INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN THE SUMMER OF 2022 AND THE SUMMER OF 2023. MORTGAGE RATES HAD ALSO INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE PLAINTIFFS TO OBTAIN HOUSING COMPARABLE TO THE HOMES THAT THEY HAD SOLD. THEY WANT TO MAKE THIS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ON BEHALF OF EVERYONE WHO MADE THAT SAME MOVE FROM CALIFORNIA TO FLORIDA, WE DID REACH OUT TO DISNEY FOR COMMENT ON THE LAWSUIT, BUT HAVE NOT HEARD BACK YE

A man suing Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for the wrongful death of his wife is facing a new legal hurdle: Disney is trying to get it dismissed and sent to arbitration — because he signed up for Disney+ years earlier.Video above: Disney employees sue company, say they moved to Florida for a project that was suddenly scrappedCourt documents show that the company is trying to get the $50,000 lawsuit dismissed because the plaintiff, Jeffrey Piccolo, signed up for a one-month trial of the streaming service Disney+ in 2019, which requires trial users to arbitrate all disputes with the company. Company lawyers also claim that because Piccolo used the Walt Disney Parks' website to buy Epcot Center tickets, Disney is shielded from a lawsuit from the estate of Piccolo's deceased wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died of a reaction to severe food allergies.In a legal filing responding to Disney's claims, Piccolo's lawyer Brian Denney called Disney's argument "preposterous" and said that the notion that signing up for a Disney+ free trial would bar a customer's right to a jury trial "with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience."Walt Disney Parks and Resort is "explicitly seeking to bar its 150 million Disney+ subscribers from ever prosecuting a wrongful death case against it in front of a jury even if the case facts have nothing to with Disney+," Denney wrote in court papers as a response.Piccolo is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 pursuant to Florida's Wrongful Death Act, as well as damages for mental pain and suffering, loss of companionship and protection, loss of income and medical and funeral expenses.Disney didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.In October 2023, Kanokporn Tangsuan, her husband Jeffrey Piccolo and Piccolo's mother dined at Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs, which is part of the Walt Disney World resort in Florida. They chose to eat at the restaurant, the lawsuit states, because they believed it would have proper safeguards against serving dairy and nuts to Tangsuan due to her allergies.The waiter guaranteed the couple that certain foods could be made allergen-free, which the two confirmed "several more times," according to the lawsuit. She also ordered a vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherd's pie.Although some of the food delivered lacked allergen-free flags, the waiter again assured them it was allergen free, but after dinner, Tangsuan, 42, went shopping in the Disney Springs area and began "suffering from a severe acute allergic reaction," according to the lawsuit.Despite self-administering an Epi-Pen, Tangsuan died from "anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system," the lawsuit said, attributing the information to a medical examiner's investigation.–CNN's Ramishah Maruf and Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.

Video above: Disney employees sue company, say they moved to Florida for a project that was suddenly scrapped

Court documents show that the company is trying to get the $50,000 lawsuit dismissed because the plaintiff, Jeffrey Piccolo, signed up for a one-month trial of the streaming service Disney+ in 2019, which requires trial users to arbitrate all disputes with the company. Company lawyers also claim that because Piccolo used the Walt Disney Parks' website to buy Epcot Center tickets, Disney is shielded from a lawsuit from the estate of Piccolo's deceased wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died of a reaction to severe food allergies.

In a legal filing responding to Disney's claims, Piccolo's lawyer Brian Denney called Disney's argument "preposterous" and said that the notion that signing up for a Disney+ free trial would bar a customer's right to a jury trial "with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience."

Walt Disney Parks and Resort is "explicitly seeking to bar its 150 million Disney+ subscribers from ever prosecuting a wrongful death case against it in front of a jury even if the case facts have nothing to with Disney+," Denney wrote in court papers as a response.

Piccolo is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 pursuant to Florida's Wrongful Death Act, as well as damages for mental pain and suffering, loss of companionship and protection, loss of income and medical and funeral expenses.

Disney didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

In October 2023, Kanokporn Tangsuan, her husband Jeffrey Piccolo and Piccolo's mother dined at Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs, which is part of the Walt Disney World resort in Florida. They chose to eat at the restaurant, the lawsuit states, because they believed it would have proper safeguards against serving dairy and nuts to Tangsuan due to her allergies.

The waiter guaranteed the couple that certain foods could be made allergen-free, which the two confirmed "several more times," according to the lawsuit. She also ordered a vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherd's pie.

Although some of the food delivered lacked allergen-free flags, the waiter again assured them it was allergen free, but after dinner, Tangsuan, 42, went shopping in the Disney Springs area and began "suffering from a severe acute allergic reaction," according to the lawsuit.

Despite self-administering an Epi-Pen, Tangsuan died from "anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system," the lawsuit said, attributing the information to a medical examiner's investigation.

–CNN's Ramishah Maruf and Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.

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

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