Disney filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, accusing him of operating a “campaign of government retaliation” and violating the company’s First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit comes as the latest development in a long-running feud between the Florida governor and the state’s largest employer, which started when the Republican legislature passed a controversial law mandating what can be taught in Florida schools.
The Parental Rights in Education Act was signed into law in March 2022. Often called the “Don’t Say Gay bill" by critics, it prevents teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ issues until after the third grade and also requires teachers and school administrators to inform parents if a student expresses confusion about their gender identity or sexual orientation.
The legislation also forbids teachers from using a student’s preferred name or pronoun without getting permission from the parents first.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek later said he would work behind the scenes in Florida to overturn the law and pledged to stop political donations in the state while the law stands. In 2020, Disney gave a total of $4.8 million in donations to Florida politicians during the 2020 election cycle, including both Democrats and Republicans, and $50,000 to DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign.
In response, DeSantis slammed Disney as going “woke” and urged lawmakers to pass a bill stripping Disney of its self-governing authority. Since 1967, Florida has given Disney special status allowing it to ignore zoning laws, impose its taxes, issue bonds and build roads, among other special privileges.
The new law would have put into place a new governing board that would replace the one picked by the Disney corporation. However, Disney appeared to outmaneuver DeSantis when it passed a resolution before the bill took effect, ceding power from the board back to Disney and leaving the board authority only on mundane issues like road maintenance.
However, DeSantis’ handpicked board, which includes multiple DeSantis donors and anti-LGBTQ+ activists, voted to invalidate that agreement, leading Disney to file its lawsuit against the Republican governor.
The lawsuit calls the action “patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.”
DeSantis’ board claims the resolution passed by Disney’s board is invalid because Disney failed to notify all parties and the resolution first needed to be approved by the district’s two cities. Disney claims it did give proper notice and the company put out an announcement in the Orlando Sentinel on January 27 for the meeting that took place on February 8.
It remains unclear how DeSantis’ feud may help him politically. A Reuters-Ipsos poll found that 44% of Republicans said their opinions on DeSantis improved because of his fight with Disney, whereas 73% of the general population said they were less likely to support a candidate who seeks to punish a company for its political views.
DeSantis has long been rumored to be considering a presidential run in 2024, and is seen as the biggest challenger for former President Donald Trump in securing the Republican nomination.
At present, DeSantis is abroad but his communication director Taryn Fenske told US media the lawsuit is “yet another unfortunate example of [Disney’s] hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”
Prior to the lawsuit being filed, current Disney CEO Bob Iger stressed the actions taken by DeSantis were retaliatory.
“The governor got very angry about the position Disney took,” Iger said, referring to the Parental Rights in Education Act, “and it seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us, including the naming of a new board to oversee the property and the business."
He added: "In effect, it seems, to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right. And that just seems really wrong to me."