The Fine Print
Last week, my son and I went to the new ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ movie, and it was awesome. It was great to see two iconic characters with a comic history on-screen at the same time, especially because actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are good friends off-screen.
The movie was also spectacular because it featured cameos from other famous actors, several of which resumed roles of prior superheroes. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is significant because it’s the first movie to merge the heroes from the 20th Century Fox movies with those of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was made possible when Disney, already the owner of Marvel Studios, acquired Fox in 2019 for $71.3 billion.
The move also brought ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ into the fold, making Disney a juggernaut of iconic cinematic franchises. So, in 2019 the company launched Disney+, a streaming service that featured these franchises, in addition to its Pixar catalog, including ‘Toys,’ and its classic animated movies, like ‘Bambi.’
I am one of over 150 million worldwide subscribers to Disney+. I subscribed to access over 2,400 programs offered by the service, including my beloved ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Indiana Jones’ and Marvel content. But, I didn’t know everything that I signed up for.
Neither did Jeffrey Piccolo.
In October of 2023, Piccolo, along with his wife, Kanokporn Tangsuan, and his mother visited Disney World in Florida. While there, they dined at Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs. They elected to eat there because they believed it would have proper safeguards against serving dairy and nuts to Tangsuan, who was allergic to them.
The waiter guaranteed the couple that certain foods could be made allergen-free, so Tangsuan ordered a vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherd’s pie. After dinner, Tangsuan, went shopping and began “suffering from a severe acute allergic reaction.”
Despite self-administering an Epi-Pen, tragically Tangsuan died from “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” according to a medical examiner’s investigation. As a result, Piccolo sued Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for the wrongful death of Tangsuan. He 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, however, has asked the court to dismiss the suit and instead order the parties to participate in arbitration because…Piccolo subscribed to Disney+.
According to court documents, Piccolo signed up for a one-month trial of the streaming service in 2019. Included in the terms of service, trial users are required to arbitrate all disputes with the company. Further, Disney claims that Piccolo used the Walt Disney Parks’ website to buy Epcot Center tickets, and the tickets also contain a mandatory arbitration clause for all disputes.
Disney argued in its motion to compel arbitration that “Piccolo cannot credibly dispute that a valid arbitration agreement exists,” and that his acceptance of terms of service means he cannot go to court without first arbitrating the case.
Brian Denney, Piccolo’s attorney, 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.”
In other words, Denney thinks Disney’s position is Goofy.
Reg P. Wydeven
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