Florida Gov. DeSantis files motion to dismiss Disney’s federal lawsuit against him

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Walt Disney Company has no basis for suing Florida’s governor in federal court over actions taken to reform the special district that governed Disney property, according to a new motion filed in the lawsuit between Gov. DeSantis and Disney.

Attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis and Meredith Ivey, the secretary for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Monday afternoon, claiming the governor doesn’t enforce any of the laws at issue, so he can’t be sued.

Disney is suing DeSantis, the DEO secretary and the board of the newly-formed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, claiming the defendants violated the company’s constitutional rights in the Contract Clause, the Takings Clause and due process in reorganizing the Reedy Creek Improvement District and nullifying the district’s deal to hand over a substantial amount of power to Disney before the state passed the law that created the CFTOD.

Disney also claims the state’s actions were retaliatory and violated the company’s First Amendment rights because it spoke out against the governor and the Florida Legislature in the passage of the Parental Rights in Education law, known to critics as “Don’t Say Gay.”

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The attorneys, which include Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, claim that any harm to Disney caused by the reorganization of the Reedy Creek Improvement District has to be “fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant.”

But, the attorneys say, Disney won’t be able to show that DeSantis and Ivey have the ability to enforce the laws that Disney challenged, because the laws do not endow either with any power. That’s even though the governor has the power to name members to the CFTOD or suspend them for failing to follow the law. They also say that even though DeSantis signed the law, it doesn’t mean he is enforcing it.

Moreover, the attorneys say DeSantis and Ivey have sovereign immunity, as well as legislative immunity, even against claims of retaliation and First Amendment violations.

The CFTOD also filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, as its board members are also named. Attorneys for the CFTOD say the courts can’t strike down the state laws that reorganized the Reedy Creek Improvement District because the Florida Legislature had every right to do it, even if Disney has evidence to suggest the move was retaliatory.

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