![]() The dispute also continues to have political implications both for DeSantis as he campaigns for president and Disney CEO Bob Iger. A court document shows 11 lawyers representing the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District while Disney has six. The two sides have assembled a sizable roster of lawyers. Disney then sued in federal court, alleging DeSantis and state officials had engaged in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” The DeSantis-aligned tourism district filed its own lawsuit in state court, seeking to uphold the decision to void the agreements. The new board declared the agreements void. Now in control of the district, DeSantis removed the Disney-friendly board members and replaced them with five Republicans.īut when the new board members took over in March, they discovered the previous board had approved the agreements preserving Disney’s control over development. The Legislature changed the name of Reedy Creek to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and put DeSantis in charge of appointing the district’s board members. The fight started when Disney opposed legislation in 2022 known by critics as the “don’t say gay” law, which limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.ĭisney stopped its political donations in Florida and vowed to get the law overturned, while DeSantis blasted Disney as a “woke” corporation.Īs the quarrel intensified, the DeSantis-allied Florida Legislature voted to overhaul Reedy Creek, the special district Disney effectively used to self-govern its theme parks and resorts in Florida. The legal jockeying comes after more than a year of back-and-forth between DeSantis and Disney. (Rich Pope/Pool Photo via Orlando Sentinel) Central Florida Tourism Oversight District representing attorney, Alan Lawson, shakes hands with opposing attorney, Adam Losey, representing Walt Disney Parks and Resorts during a hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on July 14, 2023. But Lawson said Disney didn’t follow the proper procedures, and the state’s lawsuit was actually served first on May 12. Disney’s lawyers said they served the legal papers in their federal lawsuit on May 1 with a district employee. The two sides disagreed over which lawsuit had been served first. That law made the legal questions in the district’s lawsuit moot, Petrocelli told the judge. The Legislature also passed a law targeting the development agreements and granting the tourism district with the power to undo them. Petrocelli, a lawyer for Disney, told the judge a new state law rendered the district’s legal action moot and that Disney’s separate federal lawsuit filed against DeSantis and other state officials should take priority. (Rich Pope/Pool Photo via Orlando Sentinel)ĭaniel M. Petrocelli, meets will fellow attorneys before making arguments to dismiss - or at least put on hold -a lawsuit filed by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District during a hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on July 14, 2023. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attorney, Daniel M. Without asking questions of the lawyers, the judge said she would issue a decision at a later date and requested both sides submit proposed written orders by Wednesday. Schreiber heard arguments about whether the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s lawsuit should proceed before Disney’s litigation against the state, the latest turn in a nationally watched battle between DeSantis and Disney. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight district filed against Disney should be dismissed or put on hold until a separate federal suit is resolved, lawyers for the entertainment giant told an Orange County circuit judge Friday. ![]()
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