Tangsuan had a severe dairy and nut allergy and informed the waitstaff at the restaurant of her dietary needs, and was “unequivocally assured” they could be accommodated. She ordered and ate the “Sure I’m Frittered” vegetarian broccoli and corn fritters, the “Scallop Forest” sea scallops appetizer, the “This Shepherd Went Vegan” entree, and a side of onion rings.

After their meal, Piccolo returned to their hotel room, and Tangsuan and her mother-in-law continued to shop at Disney Springs. later that evening, Tangsuan had an acute allergic reaction in Planet Hollywood, self-administered an EpiPen, and was transported to a local hospital, where she later died.

In the latest update for the Disney Springs wrongful death lawsuit, Disney cited legal language within the terms and conditions for Disney+, which “requires users to arbitrate all disputes with the company.” Disney claims Piccolo reportedly agreed to this in 2019 when signing up for a one-month free trial of the streaming service on his PlayStation console.

  • SpaceBishop
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    3 months ago

    Shit, that’s a bad look for Disney. The idea that someone could sign up for a 30-day trial to some product and completely lose their right to a jury trial for life against any and all companies associated with the parent company is absurd.

    The attorney was right to describe that as preposterous. And if the court cedes and tosses the trial, it sets a chilling precedent against consumer rights.

    • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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      3 months ago

      Yeah Christ I got to the part where it was just a fucking trial agreement and was fucking floored.

      Fuck Disney.

      Any company that can kill a person and say it was fine cause they can’t be held responsible because they don’t want to deserves to burn to the ground with their C suite in the building.

    • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Disney continues to prove that I am quite correct in my ongoing boycott. Haven’t spent any money on Disney at all in 5 years or so.

      • SirSamuel@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I enjoyed The Acolyte, although it wasn’t as good as Andor. But really, nothing from the Mouse will be that good for a while.

        No I don’t pay for a D+ membership. Yes I still have 9TB free on my NAS

    • Pronell@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I wonder if they have some longer term strategy here because this story is far too damaging over a 50k payout.

      Like maybe they make an insane argument to undermine arbitration clauses so they can win elsewhere.

      Because this is a maliciously bad look for Disney. Nobody should ever have to think about streaming contracts while deciding where to eat.

      Carve the Mouse! Break it up!

      • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I think the reason that they’re fighting it so hard is to defend arbitration clauses while the courts are still conservitive controlled. If they got sued in court despite the arbitration clause then that sets president to throw out those clauses. If they can get the courts to uphold the clause then that actually gives arbitration clauses some teeth. But if they’re going to do that then the need to do it now while there is still any chance of it being ruled in their favor and they have the money to drag this thing all the way up to the corrupt supreme court if they need to.

        • Pronell@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I can’t see any way that they win this case on the merits of the argument.

          But if I’m wrong and they win, a whole lot of lawsuits are gonna disappear. That’s a terrible precedent to set.

  • The Pantser@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Aren’t contracts null and void if one party ends the service? Like the trial is over so the contract has ended. Just because I test drove a Ford once does not mean I can’t sue Ford for their car exploding next to mine and destroying it.

    • MrVilliam@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Even if it weren’t an expired trial for Disney+ though. I think it’s incredibly unreasonable that an agreement to arbitration related to your streaming service should apply to restaurant liability. No reasonable person would believe that they should check the clauses of their Paramount+ contract before eating a Sonic the Hedgehog chili dog from the spot in the park next to the aaahh real monsters log flume ride. If we decide that that’s how we should legally be living, then it’s absolutely time to rip subsidiaries out of the hands of parent companies. When there are only like 6 companies in the world, there is no legitimate competition. I reject the logical conclusion to this strategy, which is that we are cash cow consumers, paying a subscription for company membership to continue being alive and waiving all personal freedoms and choices.

      It’s way past time to break up these gigantic conglomerates. But better late than never.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Such a shitty defense. I’d probably rule in favor of the plaintiff just because of its bizarre stretch. Like why not just claim “plaintiff knew they had a food allergy and yet did not carry an epi pen” or something else grounded in reality rather than this Disney+ nonsense? Disney should fire these lawyers and settle with an NDA before this gets any worse.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      “plaintiff knew they had a food allergy and yet did not carry an epi pen”

      Except they did. They self-administered the epi-pen before being taken to the hospital like you’re supposed to.

      This is clearly a hail Mary from Disney, and I have no idea why considering the bad publicity will clearly outweigh a wrongful death payment. Disney has people die at their facilities all the time, usually it’s unrelated to anything they did, but it’s not like people haven’t suddenly had heart attacks or a stroke at a park before.

    • Erbteufel665@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If you read the article you’d notice that she did carry and administer the EpiPen and still died later at the hospital. Not a doctor so no idea how that works but it seems like she did everything she was supposed to.