Donald Duck has been sued - Updated 5/13/2011

[jcb]

Smoking Gun is reporting that a Pennsylvania woman has filed a lawsuit alleging Donald Duck groped her at EPCOT. I won't go into the salacious details - you can read the complaint at the Smoking Gun website.

Whatever Donald may or may not have done (I wasn't there so I don't know), it raises a red flag for me when WDW is sued in some state other than Florida for events that occurred at WDW. That's just dumb.

This lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania state court in December. WDW removed it to federal court last week (after the state court warned the woman's lawyer it would be dismissed if he didn't serve the complaint on WDW).

WDW will next move the court to dismiss the lawsuit or to transfer the lawsuit to the federal court in Orlando. Most of the time, the court will transfer the lawsuit.

Another red flag is that the lawsuit goes into some detail about the 2004 Tigger incident without ever mentioning that the CM in question was acquitted and returned to work at WDW (at least according to a Sentinel article). In fact, the lawsuit contains more allegations about the Tigger incident than the incident that led to the lawsuit. (Lawyers frequently think must try to intimidate the other side.)

Now for all I know, "Donald" did the dastardly deed (I have my doubts) but the lawsuit isn't getting off to a swinging start.

See update in post 26

 

[Applemomma]

Why did it take her 2 years to file!? And post tramatic syndrome .....seriously? Not to be insensative but it must have been a whole lot worse then what the article describes or she has a very fragile state of mind to begin with. Seems a bit extreme for me. That's a very real result of sexual assault and that lawyer better not have just thrown that in there for good measure, though it doesn't sound like he's building the case on it's own merit anyway!

Was the Tigger incident 2004? I thought it was sometime after 2006 since I was on these boards either planning my 2007 trip or trying to ease myself out of the post-trip blues....

 

[jcb]

The Tigger incident mentioned in her complaint was from 2004. In 2006, someone claimed Tigger assaulted them but that CM was never prosecuted.

 

[Becx N Gav]

I can't seem to open the article, but I always noticed Donalds legs looked quite feminine

 

[BriarRosie]

I can't seem to open the article, but I always noticed Donalds legs looked quite feminine

There's a very good reason for that. Just sayin'.

 

[jcb]

I can't seem to open the article, but I always noticed Donalds legs looked quite feminine

And Smoking Gun is usually reliable. Here is a better link to the court filings. The first document is what WDW filed - the second (all part of the same pdf) is the complaint.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

There's a very good reason for that. Just sayin'.

Plus the fact that he doesn't wear any pants.

 

[princesskelz]

You know how hard it is for Donald to see sometimes?!?! Stuff like that is most likely not intentional. Poor Donald now he is going to have to actually wear pants and go to court.

 

[dalt01]

her first mistake....if you are going after something you might as well go for the gold.....she should have filed for a lot more money...second if she works she better have quit as soon as she got home or she wont be able to justify. third, as someone else mentioned, a written complaint at the time of the alleged groping would have went a long way towards validating the claim. also her medical reciepts and meds need to show a dramatic jump starting AFTER her return home....they are just hoping for a quiet settlement and they are most likely not going to get it. good luck with that.

 

[PeterPan09]

When will these people learn that the Mouse doesn't lose cases like this?

 

[Becx N Gav]

There's a very good reason for that. Just sayin'.

Exactly

And Smoking Gun is usually reliable. Here is a better link to the court filings. The first document is what WDW filed - the second (all part of the same pdf) is the complaint.

Thanks for this, makes more sense now. It looks as though the home address of the woman is given, can they put that on the internet?!

Plus the fact that he doesn't wear any pants.

 

[jcb]

The Orlando television news stations have picked up on the story.

What makes me laugh is how they have to have the reporter "live" at WDW, e.g., standing outside the Main Gate or a DTD entrances. Here's one.

http://www.wftv.com/news/24604186/detail.html

 

[dansyr2514]

I'm curious to hear what her "physical injuries " were.

 

[jcb]

Shortly before the holidays, the federal judge in Philly refused to dismiss the lawsuit or to transfer it to Florida. The first ruling is interesting pretty much only to lawyers, it is based on the fact that Disney creates numerous different corporate entities (and changes them frequently) to employ the cast members, manage the parks and resorts, book travel arrangements, and so forth. It's a lot like when John has to negotiate podcast events with different groups (shore v cruise) and so forth. Disney argued the lady had sued the wrong entity.

Contrary to the impression you get from the LA Times article the ruling simply says there is some factual dispute over which entity should be sued. This aspect of the ruling is open to being revisited once some evidence is presented.

I don't follow the courts refusal to transfer the case to Florida, however. That is where the incident happened (allegedly), the records, if any, will be there as will the employees, not to mention Donald (one wonders whether Mickey will make a good character witness, this is Donald, after all). Federal courts don't always use the same criteria to decide when a lawsuit should be transferred and this judges is along the lines of the traditional analysis. The judge might revisit it but that isn't likely (unless the lawsuit is assigned to another judge).

 

[disney david]

this is on wesh news


http://www.wesh.com/r/26354167/detail.html

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Isn't the requirement that Donald's friends are pretty much always women, due to the height requirements?

 

[Mickeysgirl34]

I heard about this on the news while in California.

The woman should know that cast members sometimes can't see people. When I was in line for Mickey,Mickey almost stepped on this girl's foot,but she moved before he could.

And I saw the Tigger thing on Youtube. First off,why would a cast member try to kill a person. My sister told me cast members can't touch or harm anyone badly when they're in costume.

Unless,Tigger and Donald hate people. XDXD.

 

[LaughingSphinx]

I'd love to see the medical report detailing her 'severe physical injury.' Please correct me if wrong; Donald wears gloves, right? In every Donald photo I can find (okay, what I googled in ten seconds) his gloves look fairly thick, he'd have to be squeezing pretty dang hard to cause any problem. And at any rate, would the injury be more or less severe than the mammograms she's probably having every few years?

 

[Thumper_Man]

I'd love to see the medical report detailing her 'severe physical injury.' Please correct me if wrong; Donald wears gloves, right? In every Donald photo I can find (okay, what I googled in ten seconds) his gloves look fairly thick, he'd have to be squeezing pretty dang hard to cause any problem. And at any rate, would the injury be more or less severe than the mammograms she's probably having every few years?

Me to. Reading the court filing, you would think she was in a car accident rather than being groped.

 

[Joshua_me]

I'm curious to hear what her "physical injuries " were.

Apparently, he Huey and Dewy'd her Louie.