Disney wins First DAS ADA Discrimination Lawsuit

[jcb]

And, just like that, the court of appeals reinstates the familes' appeal. The families' lawyer claimed not to have received any of the prior notices because the notice of appearance they filed had the email address - the firm's domain name was wrong.

To be clear, an attorney in the firm prepared or signed off on a simple 1 page form but did not notice that email address for the attorneys on that notice used the correct domain name.

That inspires a lot of confidence. At least the firm is consistent, having missed several key deadlines in the trial court without providing a good reason.

I'm not saying the court of appeals was wrong - they prefer not to dismiss appeals on technical grounds - I just get tired of spending nights and weekends working so I don't miss a deadline (I worked all day today when I had planned on taking most of today off) and then seeing other lawyers get away with missing deadlines by offering only the most flimsy of reasons.

 

[OKW Lover]

The families' lawyer claimed not to have received any of the prior notices because the notice of appearance they filed had the email address - the firm's domain name was wrong.

Wow. Just wow. If they had the address wrong on the service list, wouldn't somebody at the firm have realized they hadn't been receiving the normal notices throughout the process?

 

[jcb]

You would think. You'd also wonder why any organization would change email domains and not have emails to the old domain forwarded or routed to the new domain. Courts routinely hold not getting court emails is not a good excuse because counsel have a duty to monitor the court's docket. I have several RSS feeds set up to do that. That's how I follow the Disney litigation in California and Florida.

 

[jcb]

Thinking of the discussion in this post, https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-wins-first-das-ada-discrimination-lawsuit.3805252/post-62239722

I noticed publicity about this lawsuit: https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-coronavirus-disney-sued-autistic-facemask-20200923-wkyczlqsyvc5bjoblzh6lfhvzu-story.html

 

[avagaston]

Hi Jack Can you provide is with an update on this vase pls

 

[jcb]

Hi Jack Can you provide is with an update on this vase pls

Funny, I've was wondering about the status of the appeal earlier this week. I'll try to check the court docket this weekend and post and update. I'll also see what I can find about the Pa. mask lawsuit.

 

[jcb]

Briefing in the DAS appeal ended in February 2021. I downloaded a boatload of documents, too much to load here. The court will likely hold oral argument (virtually, I expect) but Disney has said it is not necessary. I haven't had much of a chance to review the briefs. What little I did read didn't make me think that the appeal will be successful. It was primarily an argument that attraction wait-times are "horrible" for non-disabled guests, Disney likes it that way [sic], so making non-disabled guests wait even longer (horrible-plus) so the plaintiff can have faster access to attractions is entirely reasonable.

I checked on the Disney Store mask case. The same lawyer who represents Disney in the DAS case is handling it (essentially). Again, a superficial review of the filings makes me think that Disney is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit because the potential dangers from not wearing masks (safety is always a defense to ADA claims.) Disney characterizes the family as asking the court to order unfettered maskless access to the store for anyone who claims they have a disability that prevents them from wearing a mask. As I have said, controlling the message is often 9/10ths of wining the lawsuit.

 

[Lilsia]

Makes you wonder why these people would even want to give such a horrible company, like Disney, their business. If a company treated my disabled child in such an egregious manner, I would not be wanting to take them back.

 

[hertamaniac]

Disney characterizes the family as asking the court to order unfettered maskless access to the store for anyone who claims they have a disability that prevents them from wearing a mask. As I have said, controlling the message is often 9/10ths of wining the lawsuit.

Is this posturing and making a more global (the family) interpretation than a real requirement/need?

 

[ford91exploder]

Did anyone expect Disney to lose with the quality and quantity of legal firepower Disney brought to bear.

 

[jcb]

I probably should have said there is, as yet, no ruling the court on either case. I got distracted.....

 

[karen4546]

You couldn't say it better. She is the mom thats "my son has special needs" when most of us are pushing our kid to be main streamed.
Are you familiar with the special needs classes at the schools? Those kids are super smart most will do anything for the teacher and not there parents.
They know what they will get away with.

My fave is in the first part talking about how he can wait 15 mins or car rides sometimes hours..
Sounds like she needs the same things we all use for kids tablet games, small toys etc.

And go to musicals that are hours long.... It seems to me that she may be using her son's disability to provide access or perks for her friends and family. Which is Disney's point.... misuse of the DAS/GAC

I read most of the document also. There were several parts that were just wrong. The section where DL blocked the Jungle Cruise ride (page 21) and his mom had to use 6 of the passes. Why did she have to have 6 (of the 24 passes) people there instead of one or two? Also, 21 DCL cruises went above and beyond in meal schedule, character greets etc.

Not begrudging her parenting or the enjoyment for her son, but her audacity in even bringing a lawsuit like this unreal.

I took my grandson to the restroom (he is 4) last month and the CM at 7Dwarves had an attitude about us getting back in line. I had to call my daughter and see where she was in line so that we could catch up. He is on the spectrum but did pretty good with the masks and waiting most of the time.

 

[Takket]

Just came across this thread and I recall hearing about the DAS case a year or so ago. From what I gather, Disney won that case but it is currently under appeal. Does Disney still use the same DAS? Or did they chance because people were abusing the system?

My memory (DW is disabled) is that we went to guest services and they gave her a pass. when we went to a ride they noted the time, current wait time, and asked us to return after however many minutes the current wait time was. This is what I recall as the "new" system, which I believe is still current.

My question is, is it the "new" system that Disney was sued over? Or were they sued over an older system? Again i vaguely recall hearing tales at some time about families literally hiring a disabled person to join their group so they could get a pass and skip all the lines with some disabled stranger. Which I thought was replaced with the system I describe above.

I'm just curious which system they sued Disney over.

 

[mamabunny]

Just came across this thread and I recall hearing about the DAS case a year or so ago. From what I gather, Disney won that case but it is currently under appeal. Does Disney still use the same DAS? Or did they chance because people were abusing the system?

My memory (DW is disabled) is that we went to guest services and they gave her a pass. when we went to a ride they noted the time, current wait time, and asked us to return after however many minutes the current wait time was. This is what I recall as the "new" system, which I believe is still current.

My question is, is it the "new" system that Disney was sued over? Or were they sued over an older system? Again i vaguely recall hearing tales at some time about families literally hiring a disabled person to join their group so they could get a pass and skip all the lines with some disabled stranger. Which I thought was replaced with the system I describe above.

I'm just curious which system they sued Disney over.

Readers Digest Condensed Version: the lawsuit is over the new system (DAS) - The mother of the plaintive wants the ability to use the DAS as if it were the GAC. (The old version or system that was being abused, and is the system that Disney ended as a result).