Disney sues DeSantis over his ‘targeted campaign of retaliation’ against company

The Walt Disney Co. asked a federal court Wednesday to block Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “targeted campaign of government retaliation” against the company, alleging violations of multiple constitutional rights because it spoke out against the governor’s position on LGBTQ rights.

“A targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every step by DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech — now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights,” a 77-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida asserts.

“Disney regrets that it has come to this. But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain state officials,” it adds.

DeSantis went on the attack after Disney issued a public statement opposing his Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as “Don’t Say Gay,” limiting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Lawmakers have been moving to expand the program to PreK to 8th grade through legislation. In addition, the education bureaucracy now has extended that prohibition throughout high school.

DeSantis accused the company of throwing its economic weight around in defiance of “the people’s will.”

At the governor’s urging, the Legislature created the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special taxing district that Disney controlled for decades. Just before dissolving, Reedy Creek voted to preserve much of Disney’s self-governance authority.

The trigger

Infuriated, DeSantis vowed to undo that vote, which the new district did on Wednesday. That triggered the lawsuit, Disney said.

“The governor recently declared that his team would not only ‘void the development agreement’ — just as they did today — but also planned ‘to look at things like taxes on the hotels,’ ‘tolls on the roads,’ ‘developing some of the property that the district owns’ with ‘more amusement parks,’ and even putting a ‘state prison’ next to Walt Disney World. ‘Who knows? I just think the possibilities are endless,’ he said,” the brief recounts.

“This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional. But the governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop,” the complaint reads.

The complaint names DeSantis, acting Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Meredith Ivey, five members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which oversees Disney property in the Orlando area, plus the district’s administrator.

Relief sought

The document asks the court to declare that legislation dismantling, is:

• Invalid and unenforceable because it violates the company’s contract rights.
• Violates the U.S. Constitution’s Takings Clause because it reduces Disney’s property rights without just compensation.
• “An arbitrary and irrational voiding” of Disney’s agreements with the state in violation of the Due Process Clause.

The complaint also asks the court to the laws setting up the new district and that panel’s vote in Wednesday are “unlawful and unenforceable because [they were] enacted in retaliation for Disney’s speech in violation of the First Amendment.”

Disney notes in its complaint that it paid $1.1 billion in taxes last year and employs 75,000 people in Florida.

DeSantis has been abroad this week visiting Japan, South Korea, Israel and the U.K.