Disney Parks and Resorts said it will appeal a recent federal court ruling dismissing the company’s free-speech lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state Department of Economic Opportunity secretary and members of the special district overseeing Disney.
Judge Allen Winsor of the Northern District of Florida rejected Disney’s lawsuit on Jan. 31, concluding the company’s claim that its opposition to a state bill restricting instruction about transgender and sexual identity issues led to retaliation. Disney had shown that it had standing to sue the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) but failed to justify its other allegations, Winsor said in his opinion.
“In short, Disney lacks standing to sue the governor or the secretary, and its claims against the CFTOD defendants fail on the merits because ‘when a statute is facially constitutional, a plaintiff cannot bring a free-speech challenge by claiming that the lawmakers who passed it acted with a constitutionally impermissible purpose,’” the opinion states.
Last year, the oversight of Disney changed significantly when the Reedy Creek Improvement District – which the company, as the district’s largest landowner, effectively controlled – was phased out by the state Legislature and replaced with the CFTOD, whose members are appointed by the governor.
“This change – which works to Disney’s significant detriment – came after Disney publicly criticized another Florida law, the Parental Rights in Education Act,” the opinion says. “In Disney’s view, this timing was no coincidence. Disney alleges that the Florida Legislature changed the district’s governing structure to punish it for its speech.”
And the key issue in the legal dispute is whether state lawmakers’ action represented illegal retaliation against the company’s corporate speech, in contradiction to the First Amendment, Winsor said in his decision.
Disney filed its notice to appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 1.
In response to a request for comment, the Florida Governor’s Office emailed the Florida Record some recent comments DeSantis made in the wake of the federal district court’s decision. He specifically defended the state’s new parental rights law.
“My wife and I believe, and I think the vast majority of parents in Florida and throughout the country believe, kids should be able to just be kids,” DeSantis said. “You go to school, you're not having an agenda shoved down your throat. You're not being told that you can switch genders. You're focusing on the basics.”
The governor also defended the state’s prerogative to change the system for the regulation of Disney operations in Central Florida.
“... The reality is the Florida Legislature has every right to change special districts,” DeSantis said. “They've always had that right. … You had the board that we appointed; they've reduced the taxes for all the tenant businesses that were being taxed to basically service Disney's interest.”
The governor said he was surprised that Disney plans to appeal Winsor’s decision.
“They don't have a case,” DeSantis said. “Even if you assume everything they say is true, they do not have a case. So, we absolutely anticipated this. … We knew ultimately what we did would be upheld. I'm shocked that they're saying they're going to appeal it. I think that's a mistake. I think that they should just kind of move on.”