Disney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement

[DrQ]

Disney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement​

Disney wants a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit at a Disney-affiliated restaurant based on terms of service for the entertainment giant’s website and streaming video services. The company argues that a couple agreed to an arbitration clause when one of them bought tickets to Disney World — and in an even more distant connection, when signing up for Disney Plus years before.​

...​

The lawsuit, filed in February, concerns a 42-year-old woman named Kanokporn Tangsuan, who died due to an allergic reaction that occurred after eating at one of the restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort’s Disney Springs area in October 2023. As noted in the suit, Tangsuan and her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, allegedly chose the restaurant because it advertises “the accommodation of persons with food allergies” as a “top priority.” Tangsuan was “highly allergic” to nuts and dairy.​

...​

Piccolo, who represents Tangsuan’s estate, is suing Disney for damages of more than $50,000. However, in a motion filed in May, Disney alleged that Piccolo accepted a forced arbitration agreement when signing up for Disney Plus in 2019. The streaming video service’s terms of use state 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.”​

Disney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement

The plaintiff thinks Disney’s argument “borders on the absurd.”

www.theverge.com

 

[DrQ]

Brings new meaning to the term "mouse print"

 

[jp10558]

This is exactly why I'm against EULAs and T&Cs and contracts of adhesion being binding at all. If you want this ridiculous a contract for signing up for Disney+, you should have to spell out in big letters in plain English that this is a contract, apparently forever, that is binding between you and Disney for any subsidiary, park, restaurant, store, anything anywhere ever that Disney owns. And that you have to go out to DocuSign to get a valid signature for it to be enforceable. If someone realizes they're signing a contract, at least then I'd feel better about it being enforced.

And if you're going to include things like this for buying a ticket, then you should have to go in a room at least like the Timeshare sales or Car sales and be shown a contract and have you sign it. Especially if it's going to cover anything and any time other than what the ticket grants you access to.

However, I'm also strongly against forced arbitration. I do not understand how we allow something that lets anyone "opt out" of the legal system. I wish I thought we had the attention and time to try and pass laws to regulate this better. Contracts need to be meetings of the mind again, not "I signed up to see Frozen online".