ORLANDO, Fla. – The Walt Disney Company on Thursday filed a countersuit against the DeSantis-appointed board overseeing Disney property in Florida court, alleging breach of contract, and asked the court to declare the company the winner in this part of the ongoing feud between Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
This comes as the board sought this week to be declared the winner in its state lawsuit.
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The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — the district reformed with a board of supervisors appointed by DeSantis — sued Disney in Florida court over an agreement Disney made with the previous board that stripped the district of much of its authority over Disney’s property and future development, right before the board was replaced.
A state law (SB 1604) approved by the Florida Legislature and signed by DeSantis back in May gave the board the right to declare the agreement null and void, but the board said it wanted the courts to declare it had the right to do so.
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The area considered to be Walt Disney World property in Orange and Osceola counties had been overseen by the Reedy Creek Improvement District since it was created by the Florida Legislature in the 1960s.
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The special district has a government to raise taxes, handle infrastructure and permits and development on the property.
But last year, after Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek criticized the Legislature for the passage of the Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” DeSantis and the Legislature moved to first dissolve and then remake the RCID into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, with a board appointed by DeSantis instead of elected.
Disney has long maintained, based on statements made by DeSantis and other Florida Republican leaders, that the move was retaliatory.
Before that could happen, Disney entered into the agreement with the RCID board, holding two public meetings about the agreement in January and February.
In its countersuit Thursday, however, Disney said that even though the board is different and the district has a new name, the district is still the same one originally formed by the Legislature for Disney in the 1960s.
If that’s true, Disney’s attorneys say, then the new board has to honor all legal obligations and contracts the district entered into with Disney, even after the change-over.
In addition to breach of contract, Disney says the board nullifying the agreement also violated the free speech, due process and takings clauses of the Florida Constitution.
Disney is seeking damages against the board. It also wants the Florida court to declare SB 1604 unconstitutional and bar the district from enforcing the law.
Disney’s attorneys are claiming the same violations in its lawsuit in federal court against DeSantis and the CFTOD board.
Meanwhile, the CFTOD board on Tuesday asked the Florida judge for summary judgment, asking to skip any normal court proceedings and get a final ruling in the board’s favor.
The CFTOD’s request is notable, as this week DeSantis also said in an interview that Florida has “moved on” from the feud with Disney and publicly asked the company to drop its lawsuit, saying it won’t win anyway.
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