Amid Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Disney Defends Itself With Disney+ Fine Print
The family of a 42-year-old doctor from New York is suing Disney after she died from an allergic reaction from eating in Disney Springs, Florida last October. According to the entertainment company, the family doesn’t have a right to sue because she signed up for a Disney+ trial subscription.
According to Disney, the case should be dismissed because the deceased, Kanokporn Tangsuan, gave up her right to an arbitration process by signing up for a Disney+ one-month trial back in 2019.
It cited the Terms of Use under the Subscriber Agreement which reads, “any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration.”
The multibillion-dollar company added that Tangsuan again gave up the right to sue by creating an account on their website and app before visiting the theme park.
Disney’s Defense: “Absurd”
Does this make Disney untouchable to anyone who has ever patronized their services?
Brian Dennery, the family lawyer, argued that it was “absurd” to expect people to forever give up their legal rights to file charges, especially if the charges aren’t related to its streaming service.
“The notion that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer’s right to a jury trial in any dispute with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience, and this court should not enforce such an agreement,” Dennery explained in his August 2 filing.
Disney Claims Having No Ties With Dining Establishment
Though the conglomerate acknowledged that it was “deeply saddened” by Tangsuan’s death, it claimed that the Irish pub where she dined isn’t operated and owned by the company. Hence, its defense shouldn’t affect the family’s claims.
In an email, Disney’s representative wrote, “We are merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant.”
Kanokporn Tangsuan’s Wrongful Death Claim
Tangsuan and her family ate at Raglan Road on October 5, 2023, after the establishment advertised itself as serving “allergen-free food.”
According to court documents filed last February, they informed their wait staff several times that she was severely allergic to dairy products and nuts. The employee assured them that the food was free of allergens even if certain menu items weren’t labeled allergen-free.
Less than an hour after their meal, Tangsuan began having difficulty breathing. She eventually collapsed and died at the hospital despite injecting herself with an EpiPen.
The medical examiner’s report showed that she died of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system.”
