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Jeffrey Piccolo, her husband, filed a lawsuit against Disney and Great Irish Pubs Florida, which operates the restaurant, in February.
Disney: Piccolo agreed to a binding arbitration clause in his Disney+ subscription
In April, Disney asked the court to dismiss the complaint, saying that it didn’t control the restaurant and that the couple had “failed to take all reasonable measures and precautions necessary” to avoid the “damages alleged.”
Disney said in later filings that when Piccolo created a Disney account for a Disney+ free trial in 2019, he had agreed to its Subscriber Agreement, which includes a binding arbitration clause that applies to “all disputes.”
This includes “any related disputes involving The Walt Disney Company, its subsidiaries, or its affiliates,” the terms say.
Piccolo agreed to the terms again when he logged into his Disney account to book tickets for Walt Disney World’s Epcot park, Disney said.
Disney said in the lawsuit that Piccolo ticked a box saying that he agreed to the terms in both cases. “Whether Piccolo actually reviewed the Disney Terms is also immaterial,” the company’s lawyers wrote.
Piccolo’s lawyers called Disney’s argument “preposterous” in a filing in early August. According to Disney’s defense, when Piccolo “signed himself up for a free trial of Disney+ back in 2019 or bought Epcot tickets in 2023, he somehow bound the non-existent Estate of Kanokporn Tangsuan (his wife, who was alive at both times) to an arbitration agreement buried within certain terms and conditions,” Piccolo’s lawyers wrote.
Disney’s defense was “based on the incredible argument that any person who signs up for a Disney+ account, even free trials that are not extended beyond the trial period, will have forever waived the right to a jury trial enjoyed by them and any future Estate to which they are associated, and will instead have agreed (on behalf of other survivors and the estate itself) to arbitrate any and all disputes against any and all Disney entities and affiliates, no matter how far removed from use of the Disney+ streaming service, including personal injury and wrongful death claims,” Piccolo’s lawyers wrote.
“As can be seen from the prior sentence, this argument borders on the surreal,” they added.
Disney has since reversed course, saying that it has waived its right to arbitration.
“With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” Josh D’Amaro, the chairman of Disney Experiences, told CNN.
“As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”
Neither Disney nor Piccolo’s legal representatives immediately responded to requests for comment from Business Insider, made outside regular US working hours.