This afternoon, Friday, December 22, Walt Disney World filed a new lawsuit against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) claiming they didn’t turn over public records.

Disney Files New Lawsuit Against Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

In the suit, Disney is claiming that CFTOD failed to comply with Florida’s public records law. Specifically, they are going after the CFTOD for three counts: Unjustified delay and failure to produce records, failure to retain records, and failure to retrieve records.

Disney alleges that these failures to comply with Florida’s public records law have led to a delay in the retrieval of a document they asked for seven months ago, in May of 2023. Here’s a portion of the lawsuit:

On the public records front, this has led to delays, inadequate preservation, storage and production of public records, and improper and unsupported claims of privilege and exemption from disclosure, in violation of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 119. In this case, the delayis so extreme that CFTOD still has yet to fully respond to a public records request Disney submitted seven months ago, in May of this year. 

As set out in this Complaint, CFTOD has prevented Disney from discovering the actions of its government through public records requests, in violation of Florida law. The Court should grant Disney relief.

In September of 2023, Disney threatened to file more lawsuits against CFTOD if they continued to fail to comply with their public records requests. It appears now that the company is making good on its word.

You can read the full lawsuit below:

Disney has had a long and litigious relationship with the Ron DeSantis-appointed CFTOD throughout 2023, stemming from the Disney/DeSantis feud over the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In April, Disney sued the CFTOD for violating Disney’s federal constitutional rights. The CFTOD has accused Disney of bribing public officials. Most recently, in their latest motion to dismiss Disney’s federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the CFTOD board as hearings begin, attorneys for DeSantis argued that it doesn’t matter if the state of Florida acted in retaliation against Disney.

Source: ClickOrlando

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The post Walt Disney World Files New Lawsuit Against Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Over Withholding Public Records, Following Up On Previous Threats to Sue appeared first on WDW News Today.