Disney
Discriminated Against Autistic Kids, Says Florida Civil Rights Commission;
Appeal Filed In Federal Case
Florida’s top civil rights agency has
again found that Walt DisneyParks and Resorts discriminated against several
children living with autism and their families. In five separate rulings issued
May 11, the Florida Commission on Human Relations says that an “unlawful
practice occurred” when “Complainant and Complainant’s son were deprived of
full enjoyment of the facility.” This comes as an attorney today filed a notice
of appeal in a recently tossed federal lawsuit claiming Disney
discriminated against families of children with autism and other
developmental disorders in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Taking into account the five previous FCHR rulings of February last year against
Disney, it bring to 13 the number of occasions the Sunshine State
division has found against Florida’s largest employer in the matter of children
with the brain development disorder and their loved ones visiting the likes of
Walt Disney World. “Complainant was able to demonstrate that Complainant and
Complainant’s son were denied a reasonable accommodation in a place of
public accommodation for the son’s cognitive disability,” says FCHR executive
director Michelle Wilson in one of the correspondences (read it here) that
went out last week. “Although Respondent provided an accommodation, it was a
blanket accommodation that was supposed to apply to all cognitive disabilities.
Respondent failed to consider the son’s specific disability when offering a
reasonable accommodation.”
Disney
did not respond today to request for comment on that matter. The FCHR ruling
permits a Complainant to file a civil suit against a Respondent within a year
of the signing of the determination if efforts at relief or concilation fail.
Whether or not it has an impact on future legal proceedings,
the response from the FCHR comes less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge
Anne Conway granted Disney’s motion for summary judgment and shut down
plaintiffs A.L. and D.L.’s case against the media giant’s parks. At the time,
the plaintiffs’ Tampa-based lawyer Andy Dogali told Deadline, “the opinion is
unsound, and we continue to evaluate our options.” That evaluation was
obviously completed as Dogali on Monday put forth paperwork (read it here) to
shift the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
This all started in the courts in April 2014 in California when 16
children and young adults with autism and other developmental disorders along
with their guardians and parents filed ADA violations against Disney Parks and Resorts. The
complaints alleged that the House of Mouse’s October 2013 implemented
Disability Access Service was completely unsuited to the needs of individuals
with such special needs as the plaintiffs. The DAS was intended as a
replacement for the longstanding Guest Assistance Card program in an effort to
halt perceived scams — such as well-heeled patrons hiring disabled individuals
to travel around Disneyland and other parks with them so they could get on
rides without waiting.
The
initial complaint claimed that the new system resulted in long waits for rides
and other entertainment, which often led to “meltdown behaviors” for the
children. “We fully comply with all ADA requirements and believe that the legal
claims are without merit,” said Disney at the time.
In time,
the company got the case moved to more corporate friendly Florida.
Although they took a drubbing from the FCHR last year and had to face dozens of individual lawsuits on the matter detailing
specific instances of “horrible experiences” plaintiffs had at the likes of
Disney World under the DAS system, the corporation did see the
case of A.L. and D.L. dismissed last month. But that isn’t the end and
now Disney and its lawyers from the West Palm Beach, L.A. and D.C.
offices of Kaye Scholer LLP may have to fight off the families all over again.
