Decide refuses to dismiss lawsuit towards Disney’s efforts to neutralize governing district takeover

ORLANDO, Fla. — A choose in Florida on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit introduced by Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees towards Disney’s efforts to neutralize the governor’s takeover of Disney World’s governing district.

The choose in state court docket in Orlando denied Disney’s movement within the lawsuit that claims the corporate wrongly stripped appointees of powers over design and development at Disney World when it made agreements with predecessors, who have been supporters.

The case is one in every of two lawsuits stemming from the takeover, which was retaliation for the corporate’s public opposition to the so-called Don’t Say Homosexual laws championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. Within the different lawsuit, in federal court docket in Tallahassee, Disney says DeSantis violated the corporate’s free speech rights.

The governor has touted his yearlong feud with Disney in his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, typically accusing the leisure large of being too “woke.” Disney has accused the governor of violating its First Modification rights.

Attorneys for Disney had argued that any determination in state court docket can be moot because the Republican-controlled Legislature already has handed a legislation voiding agreements that the corporate made with a previous governing board made up of Disney supporters that gave design and development powers to the corporate.

The leisure large had requested that the state court docket case be placed on maintain if it isn’t dismissed till the federal lawsuit in Tallahassee was resolved since they lined the identical floor and that lawsuit was filed first.

In that case, Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in an effort to cease the takeover, saying the governor was violating the corporate’s free speech and “weaponizing the facility of presidency to punish non-public enterprise.”

DeSantis wasn’t a celebration within the state court docket lawsuit.

The combat between DeSantis and Disney started final yr after the corporate, going through important strain internally and externally, publicly opposed a state legislation banning classroom classes on sexual orientation and gender id in early grades, a coverage critics name “Don’t Say Homosexual.”

As punishment, DeSantis took over the district by way of laws handed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a brand new board of supervisors to supervise municipal companies for the sprawling theme parks and inns. However earlier than the brand new board got here in, the corporate made agreements with earlier oversight board members who have been Disney supporters that stripped the brand new supervisors of their authority over design and development.

In response, DeSantis and Florida lawmakers handed the laws that repealed these agreements.

Disney introduced in Could that it was scrapping plans to construct a brand new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 staff from Southern California to work in digital expertise, finance and product growth. Disney had deliberate to construct the campus about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the enormous Walt Disney World theme park resort.

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Observe Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP