How disney deals with death

Disney is a beloved company by almost everyone in the world. They have filled many lives with beautifully made movies that put smiles on faces and built childhoods from the fictitious worlds they’ve woven through their brilliant art and stories. But the wonder they create is not simply limited to making movies; they also create art through TV shows and music, which have also touched the lives of millions. They even bring entertainment to life with their real-life attractions, namely their amusement parks and resorts. These are places where people go to laugh and have fun with family and friends. But on October 5th, 2023, not everyone got to spend their day smiling.

On this date, Jeffery Piccolo, his wife Kanokporn Tangsuan, and Piccolo’s mother were in Disney Springs when they decided to eat at one of the restaurants, specifically the Raglan Road Irish Pub. The reason the family had decided to dine at this establishment was based mainly on the restaurant’s reputation of being very accommodating for patrons with allergies, as Tangsuan was highly allergic to both nuts and dairy products. While dining, they made sure to repeatedly ask about the food and bring up Tangsuan’s allergies to staff, who repeatedly assured them that the food would be safe, and that they would ensure the food was prepared allergen-free for their safety. They seemingly managed to dine without issue, and afterwards the group went their separate ways, with Piccolo going to the groups resort room while Tangsuan and her mother went to peruse the various shops located in Disney Springs. Unfortunately, it was during this time that the unfortunate consequences of their meal at the Raglan Road Irish Pub reared its ugly head. Roughly 45 minutes after her meal, Tangsuan collapsed to the floor while shopping and began to have severe difficulties breathing. She was able to self-administer Epinephrine while someone who had seen her collapse called her an ambulance. Her husband and her mother, who had been trying to reach her via phone, were eventually informed that she had been rushed to the hospital. Once they did make it, they waited patiently to see her. Unfortunately, after an agonizingly long time, they were informed that she had passed away. 

Her cause of death? Anaphylaxis due to heightened levels of both dairy and nuts in her system.

As can be surmised from her cause of death, it was clear that despite the many assurances given by staff at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and the families repeated instances of communicating concern for Tangsuan’s safety, she was still given food containing allergens which would, in the end, take her to an early death. Following this life-changing incident, Jeffery Piccolo sued Disney for the wrongful death of his wife, seeking $50,000 in damages. Now surely Disney, in the face of the death of this man’s wife, would try to do their best to proceed through the legal process in a respectful manner. But instead of taking responsibility for the death of a woman caused by a business run in Disney Springs, they instead claimed that Piccolo should be compelled to arbitrate the case because he made a simple DisneyPlus account in 2019.

According to reports, Disney wanted to have the case arbitrated to avoid hefty litigation fees, but they also saw fit to claim that Piccolo had to go along with it due to terms of use that he agreed to when creating a Disney account. The terms of use he agreed to 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.” It is now blatantly obvious that Disney had absolutely no intentions of respecting the death of Kanokporn Tangsuan during the proceedings of this case, and it is clear they are trying to twist the terms of Mr. Piccolo’s streaming-service account to try and weasel themselves out of a case involving someone’s death. In so many words, Disney is “saying” that they should “be allowed” to inadvertently murder someone and avoid any lawsuit because that person's family wanted to watch Disney Plus shows; not to mention the fact that Piccolo agreed to these terms in 2019 for a month-long trial account, and Disney seems to think that means that they could arbitrate a case that had begun in 2023, a whole 4 years later. This is nothing less than an absurdity to even try to argue. Not to mention the fact that their main reason for doing this was to try and avoid the many fees that come with litigation, while, ironically, being one of the most wealthy entertainment companies in the world. This entire line of reasoning boasts an absolute lack of morality that one could only expect from a cartoon villain.

Recently, Disney did move to waive their original motion to have the case arbitrated because of Piccolo’s Disney Plus subscription. They also released a message to news outlets, claiming that “At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations,” and “With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss.” 

Unfortunately for them, this doesn’t really change the fact that they already proved that they didn’t care about the sensitivity of the issue when they ignored the fact that the case was about the death of someone’s family member because they were worried about forking over some money for legal fees. It’s kind of hard to believe that they are “putting humanity above all other considerations” when they have clearly already done the opposite by burying the clause in their terms of service to claim legal immunity from anyone who uses any of their services, terms of service that they most definitely know no one really reads in this day and age. Currently, this is where the matter stands, with both Disney and Piccolo set to make their case in front of a judge by October 2nd of this year.

This wholly ridiculous situation reminds me that despite the many good memories I have of Disney, at the end of the day it is still a company that is trying to make money. They saw the death of someone’s wife and the first thought that came to their mind was, “How can I shift the blame away from us”. It doesn’t matter if they release a message trying to apologize and claiming they’ll be better, they already spit in the face of Mr. Piccolo and his family with this preposterous stunt because they prioritized lining their pockets, and not the significance of the case they were clearly trying to bull-hit their way out of. 

We as people need to remember that Disney is first and foremost a company meant to make money, and they are most definitely not our friends nor the happiest place on Earth.