DeSantis Board Sues Disney After Company Retaliation Lawsuit

(Bloomberg) -- The Ron DeSantis-appointed board of the municipal authority overseeing Walt Disney Co.’s Florida parks sued the company Monday, claiming Disney violated state law in trying to ward off the board’s efforts to govern park operations.

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The legal fight is the latest twist in a political drama that began when Disney criticized DeSantis-backed legislation last year that limited what schools can teach about gender and sexuality. DeSantis appointed the district’s board to replace another one that had been in place for decades and allowed Disney to govern itself.

Last week, Disney sued after the oversight district voted to halt a development agreement and related covenants signed by the company, which employs 75,000 people in Florida. Disney’s lawsuit claimed in federal court that the governor’s actions were retaliatory, anti-business and unconstitutional after the company exercised its free speech rights.

But on Monday, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District hit back, suing in state court in Orange County.

“Disney covertly cobbled together a series of eleventh-hour deals with its soon-to-be-replaced puppet government” that “reek of a backroom deal,” the board said in its complaint. The arrangements were passed without proper public notice and were not discussed by a “compliant Disney-controlled board,” the new board claims.

“But perhaps out of haste or arrogance, Disney’s deals violate basic principles of Florida constitutional, statutory, and common law,” the board claims. “As a result, they are null and void — not even worth the paper they were printed on.”

DeSantis, a Republican and potential 2024 presidential candidate, sought to seize control of the local governing district set up in 1967 that gave Disney great autonomy to manage to day-to-day operations of Disney World and its other theme parks in central Florida.

But Disney sought to outmaneuver the governor by quietly pushing through changes that weakened the municipal authority chosen by DeSantis. The legality of those moves are at the heart of the lawsuit filed Monday.

Disney is one of the largest taxpayers in central Florida, contributing more than $1.1 billion in state and local taxes last year. Disney is also one of the largest employers in the state. The company emphasized its economic importance to Florida in its suit.

The federal case is Walt Disney Parks and Resorts v. DeSantis, 23-cv-00163, US District Court, Northern District of Florida (Tallahassee.) The state case is Central Florida Tourism Oversight District v. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Circuit Court of the 9th Judicial Circuit, Orange County, Florida.

(Updates with details of lawsuit against Disney)

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