Lawyers for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board filed a response to Disney‘s motion to dismiss its counter-lawsuit in state court.
The board, which was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) when the district encompassing the Walt Disney World Resort was restructured in February, called Disney’s motion “classic imagineering” by the entertainment giant.
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“Disney’s motion is classic imagineering, inviting the court to make believe that reality is whatever Disney dreams up,” the filing from June 19 said.
Lawyers for the board contend that the lawsuit is not moot, as Disney argued in its motion to dismiss, saying that ruling whether the agreement is void will affect the ongoing federal lawsuit where Disney alleges a breach of contract. The board also argues that the court should not stay the case under the priority rule, saying the state court has original jurisdiction rather than concurrent jurisdiction over the federal court.
The lawsuit brought by the board in the Circuit Court of the 9th Judicial Circuit in Orange County, Florida, alleges Disney is trying to contest “people’s sovereignty” and further claims that the company’s “puppet government” had crafted an agreement that violated “Florida constitutional, statutory, and common law.”
Disney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on May 16, contesting that ruling, in this case, would be “meaningless.”
“A ruling in CFTOD’s favor would be pointless, and a ruling in Disney’s favor would be meaningless,” Disney lawyers said in the May filing. “Under the Florida Constitution, trial courts have no power to issue opinions that are at best advisory and lack any real-world effect on the parties’ rights. The case should be dismissed as moot.”
The first hearing for the state lawsuit is currently scheduled for July 14.
DeSantis had restructured the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District to be under increased state oversight with legislation he signed in February. Disney had maintained autonomy over the district, which encompasses its Florida resort, since 1967.
After the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District unanimously approved a resolution to declare an agreement designed to undercut the new board’s power as void, Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis, the board, and state officials alleging a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
Lawyers for the defendants in the lawsuit Disney filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida filed a motion to dismiss on Monday, arguing that DeSantis and acting Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Meredith Ivey are immune from the lawsuit.
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Disney now has until July 26 to file a response to the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit in federal court.
The feud between DeSantis and the company, which led to Disney’s central Florida district being restructured, stemmed from Disney denouncing the Parental Rights in Education Act, which DeSantis signed into law last year.
