Did you read the terms and conditions?
If you signed up for a Disney Plus account, you might not be able to sue Disney for anything, ever — even wrongful death.
At least, that’s the argument lawyers for the theme park and entertainment giant are making after being sued for the wrongful death of a 42-year-old New York doctor who had a fatal allergic reaction while eating at a restaurant in Disney Springs last October.
The mega corporation is arguing that Jeffrey Piccolo — the husband of Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist with NYU Langone — agreed to settle any lawsuits against Disney out of court when he signed up for a one-month trial for Disney’s streaming service three years prior to his wife’s death. Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court and generally involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews arguments and evidence before making a binding decision, or award.
It’s unlikely Disney’s argument would hold water in Canada, and it’s still before the courts south of the border, but legal experts warned that it points to a worrying trend of companies using terms of service agreements to shield themselves from liability or questionable behaviour.
What happened in the Disney Plus wrongful death lawsuit?
Piccolo, in his suit filed in February, claims that he, his wife and his mother decided to eat at an Irish pub in Disney Springs on Oct. 5, 2023 because it was billed on Disney’s website as having “allergen free food.”
The waiter then “guaranteed” that the food was allergen-free even though some of the items were not served with “allergen free flags,” Piccolo’s lawsuit states. Tangsuan had difficulty breathing about 45 minutes after finishing dinner, according to the suit — despite self-administering an EpiPen, she collapsed and eventually died at the hospital due to her allergic reaction.
Disney told the Associated Press late Wednesday that it is “deeply saddened” by the family’s loss but stressed the Irish pub is neither owned nor operated by the company. The company’s stance in the litigation doesn’t affect the plaintiff’s claims against the eatery, it added.
“We are merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant,” the company wrote in an emailed statement. Disney Springs is owned by Disney, which leases some of the spaces in the outdoor dining, shopping and entertainment complex to other companies.
Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 in his lawsuit, and a hearing on Disney’s controversial motion is scheduled for October in an Orlando court.
Should I be worried about the Disney lawsuit?
Canadian courts likely wouldn’t hold up Disney’s argument, several legal experts told the Star, but the case should serve as a warning to Canadian consumers to be wary of quickly accepting terms of service. Even in the U.S., Toronto-based attorney Jonathan Kleiman said, rules broadly differ from state to state.
“While companies in Canada might still attempt similar tactics, they would likely face stronger legal challenges and judicial scrutiny,” Kleiman said, “making it less probable for such a case to be dismissed based on terms of service from an unrelated digital platform.”
Use of private arbitration by large corporations is widespread in the U.S., Marina Pavlović, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law, said. It was the same in Canada up until recent cases involving Facebook and later Uber, where the Supreme Court ruled an Uber arbitration clause was “unconscionable,” and allowed a $400 million class action by Uber drivers to go forward in Ontario.
Pavlović said Canadian courts are getting better at striking a balance in cases involving arbitration clauses, but added that there’s still more to be done. Consumer protection statues differ from province to province, though Ontario did recently bolster some of its consumer protections in 2023.
Do I need to read the terms and conditions?
Terms of service are necessary in the digital age, Pavlović said — they’re a necessary part of creating any kind of account online or having a presence on the internet. “However,” she added, “some of the clauses in those contracts may severely risk the consumer’s right to redress and remedies.”
Even if users didn’t read or understand the terms of service before clicking an “accept” button, the contract is still binding, Christopher Stienburg, an attorney with Roberts & Obradovic Law, explained.
His advice? “Read before you sign,” Stienburg warned. “Courts in Canada have generally upheld the enforceability of the terms and conditions that customers agreed to.”
With files from the Associated Press
