A resolution in the feud Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) have been engaged in for the past year and a half appears to be far away.
The two entities are engaged in a federal lawsuit, while the DeSantis-appointed board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which encompasses the Walt Disney World Resort, is also engaged in a state lawsuit against Disney. Here is a look at the latest in both legal battles ahead of the first hearing in the state lawsuit.
NINE TAKEAWAYS FROM FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY’S TESTIMONY
What is in dispute with the lawsuits?
Shortly after Disney denounced the Florida Parental Rights in Education bill and vowed that its goal was “for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts,” DeSantis worked with the state legislature to strip Disney of its special taxing district for its central Florida resort.
In February 2023, DeSantis signed a law that restructured the district encompassing the Walt Disney World Resort into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which was governed by a board appointed by the governor.
Shortly after taking power, the new board discovered an agreement between Disney and the previous board, which handed nearly all power for the district to the entertainment giant. DeSantis and the board then enacted a “one, two punch” to invalidate the agreement, including the board using a legal infirmity to declare the agreement void and the Florida legislature passing a law that targeted the agreement’s validity.
The same day the board declared the agreement void, Disney filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida against state officials. The board later filed a countersuit against Disney in the Circuit Court of the 9th Judicial Circuit in Orange County, Florida.
Federal lawsuit
Disney argues in the federal lawsuit that DeSantis and other state officials have violated the company’s First Amendment right to free speech, the contract and takings clauses in the U.S. Constitution, and the company’s 14th Amendment right to due process. The House of Mouse says Florida officials have pursued a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
DeSantis, acting Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Meredith Ivey, board members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, and the administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District are listed as defendants in the federal lawsuit.
DeSantis and Ivey have moved to have the lawsuit dismissed against them, arguing they have immunity because they do not enforce the laws in dispute. They also contend in the motion to dismiss that “Disney cannot show that those alleged harms are traceable to, or redressable by, the State Defendants.”
The board and district administrator have argued the lawsuit brought by Disney should be dismissed because it holds “a host of baseless constitutional claims.” They also argue that if the federal lawsuit is not dismissed, it should be stayed until the state lawsuit is decided because the state litigation may change the nature of Disney’s claims in the federal lawsuit.
Disney has until July 26 to file a response to the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit in federal court.
No timetable for the trial has been finalized, but Disney has proposed a July 15, 2024, trial date, while DeSantis and the defendants have suggested an Aug. 4, 2025, trial date.
State lawsuit
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District argues in its countersuit against Disney that the company is trying to contest Florida’s “people’s sovereignty,” saying Disney’s “puppet government” made a deal that violates “Florida constitutional, statutory, and common law.” The board had said that its lawsuit is to protect its power and prevent Disney from overriding its authority over the district.
Disney has argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because it is “moot” under the land use law the state legislature passed, which invalidated the agreement Disney had with the previous board. Lawyers for the entertainment giant said that “a ruling in CFTOD’s favor would be pointless, and a ruling in Disney’s favor would be meaningless.” As an alternative, Disney said that the state lawsuit should be stayed until a judgment is made in the lawsuit in federal court.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a filing opposing Disney’s motion to dismiss, lawyers for the board called the filing “classic imagineering” by the entertainment giant.
The first hearing in the state lawsuit between Disney and the board is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. in Orange County, Florida.
