Disney has been hit with countless lawsuits in its day, and right now is certainly one of those times.

Between the Reedy Creek lawsuits, Annual Passholder and Magic Key lawsuits, and more, The Walt Disney Company’s legal department is probably not having a great time right now. In late 2022, one of Disney’s own investors filed a suit arguing that Disney created “‘far-reaching’ financial risks for itself by opposing a Florida law limiting instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools.” And now, we have an update on that suit.

According to Reuters, The Walt Disney Company did not act negligently when it criticized Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, despite what an investor has alleged in a suit filed late last year. Kenneth Simeone, an investor in Disney, filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court against Disney [Kenneth Simeone v. The Walt Disney Co., No. 2022-1120, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington)].

The lawsuit centered around Disney’s response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill (what critics called “Don’t Say Gay”). It claims that Disney created “‘far-reaching’ financial risks for itself by opposing a Florida law limiting instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools.” Simeone claimed that by criticizing “Don’t Say Gay” Disney “lost control over tax and improvement issues at its Orlando-area theme park.”

Simeone demanded that Disney turn over internal records about the decisions made surrounding the Company’s opposition to “Don’t Say Gay.”

But, Judge Lori Will of Delaware’s Court of Chancery ruled that Disney does not have to turn over internal records that included years of board members’ emails. Simeone requested the documents “to investigate possible wrongdoing by directors in connection with the company’s decision to criticize the 2022 law.”

The judge stated that while it may not have been a good financial decision for Disney to criticize the bill, the evidence failed to support the idea that company executives allowed their personal views to influence their decisions to do so. She went on to say that Simeone could not use  Delaware corporate law to “search for hypothetical conflicts.”

In addition, the judge found that the suit specifically benefited the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit law firm that is known for supporting conservative causes. She said, “The plaintiff’s counsel and the Thomas More Society are entitled to their beliefs,” but that a corporate records lawsuit “is not a vehicle to advance them.”

So, for now, it looks like Disney has come out as the victor in this lawsuit — but there is still more to come in other cases Disney is involved in. We’ll be keeping up with all of them, so be sure to stay tuned to DFB for more.

4 Times Disney LOST Million-Dollar Lawsuits

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Have you been following Disney’s lawsuits? Tell us in the comments.

The post Judge Sides With Disney in Important Lawsuit first appeared on the disney food blog.