New Lawsuit From Disney Escalates Company’s Feud With DeSantis, Alleges ‘Targeted Campaign of Government Retaliation’

The spat between Disney and Florida’s governor escalated dramatically Wednesday when the company sued the potential presidential aspirant for what it said was a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against the company because it expressed a political viewpoint with which he and other state officials disagreed.In a lawsuit filed in the northern district of Florida, Disney said Governor DeSantis “orchestrated at every step” a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” because some of Disney’s employees and executives openly objected to legislation he signed prohibiting instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools. The legislation was labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law by its critics.The complaint said actions Mr. DeSantis took Wednesday were the “latest strike” in that campaign. Earlier in the day, the board hand-picked by Mr. DeSantis to manage the special tax district enjoyed by Disney since the 1960s — the Reedy Creek Improvement District — voted to declare “void and unenforceable” a covenant that the board’s previous directors passed immediately before the state took it over.Disney alleges that the board’s latest actions are “patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional,” and that the contracts declared null “had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs.” The company said it plans to invest $17 billion in its Walt Disney Resort over the next decade, and that the state’s actions jeopardize those plans. In response to the lawsuit, the governor’s office reiterated its assertion that Disney should not enjoy any special privileges in the state not available to other businesses. “We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state,” a statement said. “This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”Mr. DeSantis has been sparring with the entertainment behemoth since March of last year, when he signed the Parental Rights in Education Act that prompted outcries from LGBT activists across the country. The legislation prohibited classroom instruction on topics related to gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grades. In April, the state Board of Education expanded the policy to cover all grades, including high school.After the bill was signed, Disney employees publicly protested the measure and the CEO at the time, Bob Chapek, said he and other “cast members,” as Disney employees are called, were “disappointed and concerned” about the law’s potential implications. The criticism was not well-received by Mr. DeSantis, who said in a fundraising email that “if Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy.”Mr. DeSantis later convinced the state legislature to pass a bill reconstituting the Reedy Creek Improvement District and allowing Mr DeSantis to appoint a new governing board for the district. Before it ceded control of the board, though, the previous Disney-friendly board signed off on a measure that rendered the new DeSantis-appointed board largely powerless. It was that measure that Mr. DeSantis’s new board declared “void and unenforceable” Wednesday.In its complaint, Disney alleges that the governor’s actions violate the company’s constitutional rights under the Contracts Clause, the Takings Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the First Amendment.“There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the State for doing so,” the company said. “And Disney now is forced to defend itself against a State weaponizing its power to inflict political punishment.”One of Mr. DeSantis’ challengers for the GOP nomination, Nikki Haley, said Wednesday that should Disney choose to relocate, her home state of South Carolina — which she served as governor — would gladly welcome it. “We’ve got great weather, great people, and it’s always a great day in South Carolina,” she said on Twitter. “SC’s not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either.”

New Lawsuit From Disney Escalates Company’s Feud With DeSantis, Alleges ‘Targeted Campaign of Government Retaliation’

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