Disney is attempting to have a wrongful death lawsuit dismissed by citing a previous agreement made by the plaintiff, Dr. Jeffrey Piccolo, when he signed up for a Disney+ subscription. Dr. Piccolo is grieving the loss of his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, who is suing the company for $50,000 after she allegedly suffered a fatal reaction at a Disney Springs restaurant in Florida last October.
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The motion was filed in Orange County, Florida, and argues that the lawsuit should be moved out of court and into arbitration. According to the New York Post, Disney claims that Piccolo agreed to resolve all disputes through individual binding arbitration when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019. Court documents claim that this agreement is also applicable to his current lawsuit against the company.
His attorneys described the motion as “preposterous” and “outrageously unreasonable.” In their response, filed on August 2, they stated that Disney’s argument is flawed. They also argued that the subscription trial account should not apply to the wrongful death suit, especially since Piccolo is acting as the personal representative of his wife’s estate.
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The company’s legal team claimed that Piccolo had agreed to similar arbitration terms when he bought tickets to Epcot through the “My Disney Experience” app in September 2023, just a month before the incident that led to his wife’s death. The company stated that Piccolo was required to consent to the arbitration language before purchasing. In his original lawsuit, Piccolo alleged that his wife died of a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis shortly after dining at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant on October 5th.
The complaint stated that Tangsaun, who worked at NYU Langone in New York City, had repeatedly informed the staff about her nut and dairy allergies when ordering her meal. Despite taking precautions, she experienced difficulty breathing and collapsed after leaving the restaurant. She later died at a local hospital, even though an EpiPen was administered before her death.
Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 in damages under Florida’s wrongful death act, citing loss of income, compensation for mental pain and suffering, and other expenses.
