Does Your Disney+ Subscription Prevent You From Suing Disney

This case inspired several memes on how Disney is allowed to kill your wife if you have a subscription to Disney+. What actually happened is quite tragic. A tourist and his wife were eating at a Disney restaurant. The wife asked several times if there were any allergens in the food. The waiter assured the couple that there were not. Ultimately, there were allergens in the food and the wife had a fatal allergic reaction.

The husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney. Disney tried to argue that the terms of his Disney+ subscription meant that the case should be paused and moved into arbitration. It set up a potential scenario where Disney could not be sued in front of a jury by an individual having a Disney+ subscription. After media backlash over the strategy, Disney rescinded the motion. Today, however, those same arbitration clauses still decorate Disney+ terms of service. Does that mean that you can’t sue Disney if you have a subscription to Disney+?

Disney rescinds motion after serious backlash 

Disney’s fans and the media did not appreciate the strategy being employed by attorneys for Disney. It created a situation where there was a considerable amount of press and backlash concerning the tactic. This created a situation where Disney didn’t want to look like the bad guy and potentially alienate millions of Disney+ subscribers. So, they decided to allow the lawsuit to play out in court.

Disney likely didn’t expect there to be a media frenzy around the strategy. While the original story made headlines because the plaintiffs were sympathetic and a death was involved, Disney’s strategy in defending the case shined a spotlight on it that Disney didn’t want. In other words, they looked like a mean bully megacorporation attempting to prevent the little guy (who they had surely wronged) from pursuing justice on behalf of his wife.

Why should I be worried about this strategy? 

Arbitration agreements are common in certain industries. The entertainment industry is one of them. Places like Disney and cruise lines often employ arbitration agreements when booking guests. These agreements prevent the guests from filing jury lawsuits against the companies and force cases into arbitration where they are decided by an arbitrator.

Civil defendants broadly prefer arbitrators to juries. Juries are unpredictable, tend to sympathize with injured victims and deliver potentially large verdicts. Arbitrators, on the other hand, aren’t necessarily swayed by emotional arguments and deliver verdicts that tend to be more manageable for civil defendants. Hence, why Disney would prefer to force the case into arbitration rather than letting it go before a jury.

Talk to a Jacksonville, FL Personal Injury Lawyer Today 

The Jacksonville personal injury attorneys at Gillette Law represent the interests of injured plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits filed against negligent defendants. Call our office today to schedule a consultation, and we can begin investigating your injuries right away.

Source:

floridapolitics.com/archives/692257-disney-angered-fans-by-using-disney-terms-to-fight-a-lawsuit-could-it-happen-again/