Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan died of anaphylaxis after consuming food at Raglan Road Irish Pub, a restaurant at Disney Springs, despite being reassured multiple times that the food was allergy safe. Disney should be the one to blame, with their initial reaction claiming the death was not their fault.
On Tangsuan’s behalf, her husband Jeffrey Piccolo sought out legal action for his late wife, accusing the restaurant of negligence in her death.
According to a statement made by NBC News, “Disney filed court documents in May saying the $50,000 lawsuit should be dismissed and resolved by individual arbitration because of terms Piccolo agreed to when he signed up for a free trial of the streaming service Disney+. The filing also says he accepted the same terms when he used the Walt Disney Parks website to buy tickets.”
Disney’s claims of arbitration are nonsensical. Piccolo made the claim on Tangsuan’s behalf; she didn’t have a Disney+ account.
Josh D’Amaro, the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, said, “At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations. 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. As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”
Dr. Joseph Devaney, a professor of political science and law at ABAC, said, “Disney is possibly backing off the arbitration because of bad publicity or their weak legal argument. I’m skeptical of the argument Disney would have made.”
Disney is merely attempting to maintain a positive public image. Despite the gravity of the case, I don’t think it will bring a decline in their revenue by any means.
As of Aug. 2024, there are 153.8 million people with a Disney+ account. Any substantial or harmful decline would take a collective public effort.
People will always go to Disney parks if the doors are open. The parks have an annual average attendance of 58 million. Financial damage to the company is unlikely, unless some other big corporation calls out and brings attention to Tangsuan’s case.
The fact that Disney can make claims of arbitration should scare consumers, especially when they think to ignore the terms and conditions. A person who signs up for plans like Disney+ that are run by big corporations could be a potential victim, just like the case of Tangsuan’s death.
Devaney said, “People, when signing a document, should use their due diligence in making sure they understand what they are signing. That can be difficult with a tremendous number of pages, with most people just signing ‘okay’ and moving on.”
The problem of terms and conditions can be solved. Any terms and conditions that affect the well-being of the person signing up should be outlined and read before finalization. The terms and conditions also should not be reflected in court if someone dies in a wrongful death case.
The death of Tangsuan is a grave reminder that big corporations refuse to look out for their consumers. Disney is clearly at fault.