TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Disney sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday slammed the Republican takeover of its theme park district, saying the governor launched a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company defied a law critics called “Don’t Tell that’s Gay.”
The lawsuit was filed in Tallahassee minutes after a Disney World management board appointed by DeSantis voted to cancel a deal that gave the company authority over design and construction decisions at its sprawling properties near Orlando.
“Disney regrets that it has come to this,” the lawsuit said. “But due to the exhausting efforts to find a resolution, the Company has no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to use government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political view unpopular with some State officials.”
The legal filing is the latest salvo in a more than year-long battle between Disney and DeSantis who criticized the governor as he prepares to launch an anticipated presidential bid in the coming months.
DeSantis, who has framed himself as a Republican firebrand who can deftly implement his conservative agenda without drama, dived into the fight over the company’s beloved and major tourism driver, while the business leaders and White House opponents bashed his stance as a rejection of the principles of small-government conservatism.
“We are not aware of any legal right that requires a company to operate under its own government or maintain special privileges that other state businesses do not,” said DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske. “This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”
The fight started last year after Disney, in the face of great pressurepublicly defied a state law banning classroom lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in the first grades, a policy called “Do not Say Gay.”
As punishment, DeSantis took over the self-governing district of Disney World and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services at the sprawling theme park. But before the new board came in, the company pushed through an 11th-hour deal that stripped the new supervisors of much of their authority.
The DeSantis board on Wednesday said Disney’s move to retain control of its property was effectively illegal and was made without proper public notice.
“Disney picked a fight with this board. We’re not looking for a fight,” said Martin Garcia, chair of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, before the vote, adding “bottom line, what’s being said to our lawyers, in fact and legally what they do is completely legal. chaos. It won’t work.”
DeSantis also promised more compensation, along with proposals to improve state management of the resort’s rides and monorail, as well as a proposal to build a prison nearby. Also Wednesday, the Florida Senate passed a bill that seeks to put retaliation in place and undo agreements made with the Reedy Creek board before the state took them over. It still needs to be approved by the House before it can proceed.
Disney said all agreements made by the previous board were legal and approved in a public forum. Disney CEO Bob Iger also said that any action against the company that threatens jobs or resort expansion in Florida is not only “anti-business” but “anti-Florida.”
The Disney lawsuit asks a federal judge to throw out the hiring of the theme park district’s governor, as well as the actions of the DeSantis oversight board, because of violations of the company’s free speech rights.
“A targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech — now threatens Disney’s business operations, endangers the region’s economic future, and violates the its constitutional rights,” the lawsuit said.
