Disney wants to force arbitration in case of negligent homicide

ORLANDO, Fla. – Disney is trying to use language in its Disney+ user agreement to force arbitration in a wrongful death lawsuit, so legal experts are reminding people to read the fine print when signing up for streaming services or apps.

An Orlando litigation attorney says people should know what's in legal agreements when they sign up for services across the country.

The issue came to the fore after Disney dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Kanokporn Tangsuan, a doctor from New York, died after having dinner with her husband and mother-in-law at a restaurant on the Disney Spring grounds.

According to court documents, Disney wants to take the lawsuit to arbitration because the plaintiff signed up for Disney+ and the agreement stipulates that disagreements with the entertainment company must be resolved in this way.

The lawsuit was filed against Disney by Tangshan's husband Jeffrey Piccolo after his wife died on October 5, 2023.

Piccolo claims that the Ragland Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs did not take sufficient consideration of his wife's severe milk and nut allergies, despite being repeatedly informed of them.

Orlando-based trial attorney Jonathan Rose said he was not surprised that Disney was relying on an agreement with a streaming service and said such steps were merely part of the legal process.

“The Disney employees and Disney lawyers say, 'Oh, there's an arbitration clause,' and there's language in there that they think applies to this lawsuit,” Rose said. “They're going to use that as a defense because if they don't use it, they're waiving it. That means they're giving it up.”

According to court documents, the company also argues that the plaintiff, the woman's husband, signed up for a one-month trial of the streaming service in 2019.

Disney's lawyers claim that the service's terms and conditions state that any disputes must be settled out of court through arbitration.

Rose says most people have no idea what they are signing up for with such services.

“The consumer who signs this agrees to resolve all disputes with any part of the Walt Disney Family Companies through binding arbitration,” Rose said.

The trial lawyer said there are reasons why large companies prefer arbitration to litigation, including avoiding the publicity and costs of a public trial.

“From a corporate customer’s perspective, it is much more advantageous because there is a much lower probability of incurring large costs,” says Rose.

While Rose said he understands why Disney is making this argument with the Disney+ user agreement, he doesn't expect it to hold up in court.

“Do I think this will be effective in reality to ward off these types of claims? I don't think so,” he said.