Disney filed a lawsuit late this afternoon with an Orange County District Court judge finding that the Ron DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is unlawfully withholding public records and ordering the agency to immediately provide Disney with all outstanding requested records place.
According to the lawsuit, Disney filed a public records request with CFTOD on May 11, 2023, requesting specific documents. The district acknowledged the request and received payment, but delayed providing documentation for nearly four months without providing any reason. Disney issued a legal notice on August 29, 2023, which the District partially complied with, citing technological difficulties and incomplete disclosure. After three more weeks of inaction, Disney expressed concern about the District's delays, vague technological issues, improper use of attorney-client privilege, and data retention practices in a letter dated September 21, 2023.
Disney points to a delay “so extreme that CFTOD has still not fully responded to a public records request Disney submitted seven months ago, in May of this year.”
Here is an excerpt from the lawsuit detailing Disney's complaint against CFTOD:
CFTOD has failed and failed to meet its public records obligations in many ways, including:
A. Allow employees and board members to use personal devices, personal email addresses, text messages, and messaging applications for District business without adequate processes in place to ensure that the public records contained therein are preserved or created.
B. There will be no assurance that board members will not use features to automatically delete personal accounts used for district business.
C. Relying on board members or individual employees – including County Administrator Glenton Gilzean – to self-select text messages or emails to respond to public records requests without technical direction from the County or efforts to verify compliance;
D. Rely solely on outside litigators to collect Chief Executive Officer Martin Garcia's public records contained in his personal email account without the need for a compliance review process; And
e. Failure to preserve data from personal devices of departing employees.
Disney points to the departure of 50 district employees and the resulting impact on the company's ability to provide services. The lawsuit also references a statement made in pending litigation brought by CFTOD against Disney. The new board was recently described by CFTOD's public records manager as “very, very, very politically motivated.”
This is Disney's second lawsuit against the Ron DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Disney's April 26, 2023 federal lawsuit was filed in response to Governor DeSantis' attempts to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District with his own hand-picked board. Disney's lawsuit says DeSantis' actions violated the First Amendment and other constitutional rights, and claims they were motivated by retaliation because the company opposed the so-called “Don't say gay” law in connection with parental rights in schools.