Jeffrey J. Piccolo filed a wrongful death lawsuit after his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died after she consumed food containing allergens at a restaurant in Disney World. Disney is trying to have a widower’s wrongful death lawsuit dismissed and sent to arbitration because the man had signed up for a Disney+ account several years ago.
Jeffrey J. Piccolo sued Disney Parks and Resorts in February, months after his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died after she consumed food containing allergens at a restaurant in Disney World.
Piccolo said in his complaint that he, his wife and his mother went to dinner at Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant at the resort in Orlando, Florida, on Oct. 5. They asked several times whether Tangsuan’s allergies could be accommodated, according to the complaint. Despite the server’s having assured them, Tangsuan had a severe allergic reaction and died at a local hospital, the complaint said.
Disney filed court documents in May saying the $50,000 lawsuit should be dismissed and resolved by individual arbitration because of terms Piccolo agreed to when he signed up for a free trial of the streaming service Disney+. The filing also says he accepted the same terms when he used the Walt Disney Parks website to buy tickets.
Lawyers for the company said that users have to select checkboxes that hyperlink to the terms of use, as well as another that says they agreed to the terms. Users cannot select “Agree & Continue” if the boxes are not checked, the filing says. The filing included a copy of its terms and conditions. A section titled “Disney Terms of Use” says that “any dispute between you and us, except for small claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration.”
A spokesperson for Disney told NBC News: “We are deeply saddened by the family’s loss and understand their grief. Given that this restaurant is neither owned nor operated by Disney, we are merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant.”
