ORLANDO, Fla. (CN) — The Walt Disney Company escalated its legal battle against an oversight board appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, accusing board members of violating the state’s public records law in a lawsuit filed Friday.
In its latest lawsuit, the third Disney has filed against the board this year, the entertainment giant says the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District allows employees and board members to use personal devices for official business and fails to preserve those communications for later review.
“CFTOD’s failure to provide access to its records guaranteed by Florida law appears to stem from pressure put on CFTOD employees due to numerous departures since the installation of the district’s new board of supervisors, appointed to replace the outgoing board of CFTOD’s predecessor, the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” Disney wrote in the complaint. “On the public records front, this has led to delays, inadequate preservation, storage and production of public records, and improper and unsupported claims of privilege and exemption from disclosure.”
Disney’s attorneys claim the district has yet to provide all information relating to a public records request sent in May asking for all mentions of “Disney” or “Mouse."
Disney notes in its complaint, filed in Orange County Circuit Court, that the company paid more than $2,400 in processing fees invoiced by the district, per Sunshine Law statutes.
The corporate giant specifically mentions the district did not provide any text messages or voicemails on private devices from board members. In one example, Disney says, board chairman Martin Garcia refused to turn over such messages except to outside attorneys hired by the board, and others have “self-selected” which documents to submit.
The district's office did not immediately return a call requesting comment, though Disney indicates in its complaint that the district has complained of “technical hurdles” and that some materials are exempt from the law, such as those dealing with recent litigation.
The quarrel between Disney and the state stems from the corporation’s opposition to the Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, known more commonly as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity topics from kindergarten through third grade.
Disney heavily criticized the bill, which DeSantis signed into law in March 2022, and vowed to end any political contributions to state lawmakers.
The governor attacked Disney as a “woke corporation” and directed the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature to remove Disney’s self-governing status that was in place for more than 50 years.
The former Reedy Creek Improvement District reacted by quietly passing a series of development agreements that effectively neutered the new board from making any major decisions affecting the theme park’s 25,000-acre property.
DeSantis answered with a series of proposals to wrest control of the district from Disney, including placing tolls on roads within the district in addition to new taxes and state inspections of the theme park’s monorail. At one point, noting that the state has several miles of undeveloped land adjacent to the theme park, the governor bounced around the idea of building a prison abutting the district.
Disney responded in turn with a federal lawsuit accusing DeSantis and the board members of a “targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech.”
Then, the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District filed its own lawsuit in state court to nullify the previous board’s development agreements. Disney countersued.
Both the federal and state lawsuits are awaiting judges’ decisions on motions to dismiss the complaints.
The feud between Disney and the state has led to a series of headaches for DeSantis, who is currently running for the GOP presidential nomination, and the district board members.
One of the governor’s appointees abruptly resigned in May without giving a reason. Then, the newly appointed administrator of the district, Glen Gilzean, was forced to resign from his role as chairman of the state’s ethics commission. Florida law does not allow public employees to serve on the commission, according to a legal opinion from the commission’s lawyer.
And as Disney notes it its lawsuit, dozens of employees have left the district since the new board took over.
“Employees are exhausted,” Disney wrote in its complaint. “They want to get back to their day-to-day operation but find it difficult every day just to continue on, lack confidence in the new board and those it has hired, and wish they could return to the days before Reedy Creek became the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.”
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