WDW Sets Up Stings From Craigslist Park Ticket Ads

[jcb]

Last week, a now former CM filed an interesting document in Orlando federal court. The CM, who used to work at Epcot ay a custodial job in World Showcase, was filed in August 2013. I'll let her describe why:

I worked for Walt Disney World from January 8, 2005-August 2, 2013. I was wrongfully terminated from Disney by means of entrapment. I was asked by my cousin [name redacted] to use my guest pass, and help a few of his friends to enter the park. [Cousin] had asked me to wait at the front gate while he went to meet his friends in the parking lot. These friends he told me, was a "service buddy" and company. A short while later, I received a text from [Cousin] to meet them over by the restroom, and to "just go with it" so I proceeded to meet them. When I'd arrived, I met with my cousin, a man & two women. The girls wanted me to go in the restroom with them, where they then shoved money in my hand. Being under the assumption that these women were either in the military, or family of, I didn't want to offend, and I was told to "go with it." I know a lot of military personnel have PTSD, which I didn't want to trigger, so I did as I "went with it". I never asked them, nor my cousin for money. I understand my guest pass is to get people in at no cost, and that is against policy. Over the past eight years, I have used my guest pass to get friends into the park at least sixty times, without compensation.

When we left the bathroom, still confused about why this money that was pushed on me, we went up to the front gate. Once everyone was through the gate, the two women proceeded to pull out Disney identification cards. Immediately following entry, I was brought into the office to talk to management about the incident. My cousin went with a sherif on property. I was showed a craigslist posting, offering parkhopper tickets, posted by my cousin.

Disney later fired her, unjustly she asserts. Now, as potential wrongful termination claims go, this one is pretty weak. For one, being fired unjustly may violate the union contract but I'm pretty sure it doesn't violate Florida law. Her best claim appears to be that she had a disability but she given no reason to think that her disability caused her termination. It may be unfair but without some protected status or conduct, she is likely sunk legally.

And if you are inclined to think it was unfair of Disney to fire her, keep in mind: (1) we have only her side of the story, the undercover cast members who "bought" the tickets probably describe the bathroom transaction quite differently and (2) Disney's employee handbook (at least the one posted at http://cdn.disneycareers.com/managed/104_Employee_Policy_Manual_WDW_custV2.pdf at page 59) says employees can be immediately terminated for "Soliciting for sale, selling, using as payment for services or goods rendered, or trading the complimentary admission tickets to Disney theme parks received from the Company." The employee admits this is Disney's policy. None of this prompted me to mention the "lawsuit" in a post.

What intrigues about this filing is the assertion that Disney not only monitors Craigslist but set up a sting to catch the ticket sellers. There are, even now, a number of Disney theme park admission tickets advertised on Craigslist. (I won't link to it for obvious reasons). People even post on disboards.com asking if Craigslist tickets are legit. (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2924621) It just fascinates me that Disney goes to the trouble of setting up stings based on Craigslist ads.

 

[disney david]

Last week, a now former CM filed an interesting document in Orlando federal court. The CM, who used to work at Epcot ay a custodial job in World Showcase, was filed in August 2013. I'll let her describe why:

Disney later fired her, unjustly she asserts. Now, as potential wrongful termination claims go, this one is pretty weak. For one, being fired unjustly may violate the union contract but I'm pretty sure it doesn't violate Florida law. Her best claim appears to be that she had a disability but she given no reason to think that her disability caused her termination. It may be unfair but without some protected status or conduct, she is likely sunk legally.

And if you are inclined to think it was unfair of Disney to fire her, keep in mind: (1) we have only her side of the story, the undercover cast members who "bought" the tickets probably describe the bathroom transaction quite differently and (2) Disney's employee handbook (at least the one posted at http://cdn.disneycareers.com/managed/104_Employee_Policy_Manual_WDW_custV2.pdf at page 59) says employees can be immediately terminated for "Soliciting for sale, selling, using as payment for services or goods rendered, or trading the complimentary admission tickets to Disney theme parks received from the Company." The employee admits this is Disney's policy. None of this prompted me to mention the "lawsuit" in a post.

What intrigues about this filing is the assertion that Disney not only monitors Craigslist but set up a sting to catch the ticket sellers. There are, even now, a number of Disney theme park admission tickets advertised on Craigslist. (I won't link to it for obvious reasons). People even post on disboards.com asking if Craigslist tickets are legit. (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2924621) It just fascinates me that Disney goes to the trouble of setting up stings based on Craigslist ads.

I could just see Disney security going around kicking doors in and Mickey turning the screws to the people they catch. But this is not the first time Disney fired cms for selling tickets. Didn't she go against Disney policy even if the two wasn't Disney cms who knew Disney had a csi unit to catch cms like that.

A little tip nothing good happens when exchanging money in a bathroom. I wonder how far her cousin and Disney could for her to do.

Well next time you go on Craig lost it could be Disney setting you up. I wonder how ocso fella about this with Disney taking this action in their hands.

I hope she loses the case and Disney Doesn't get in trouble for doing undercover work. Just think how many crimes Disney can stop who would Expect this. Good for Disney maybe other cms will see and will stop and other people selling tickets illegally.

But jack if they fired her for the tickets dose it matter if she had a disability as that was not the reason. And it wouldn't protect you from doing something like this. It not like they fired her because she couldn't preform her job due to her disabilities. She went into to it with the mind set she getting people in for free she could of handed the money back and said no and she most likely wouldn't been fired.

Their was a man arrested in a Epcot bathroom for peeping I wonder if it was the undercover unit trying to busy someone but came across him instead.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Wow, very interesting! This must be a rather large problem if Disney is doing a sting - or they simply want to make a statement to the other CMs. As for this CM, it seems unlikley that she was unaware that her cousin was up to no good given the story.

 

[AndyPok1]

Ya the interesting part of this to me is that it was the cousin that had posted it. That's a messed up family dynamic. Arguably she didn't solicit or sell the tickets.

 

[jcb]

Ya the interesting part of this to me is that it was the cousin that had posted it. That's a messed up family dynamic. Arguably she didn't solicit or sell the tickets.

Ya think? It's called throw your cousin under the bus.