Attorneys for the Walt Disney World governing district taken over final yr by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ allies don’t need the governor’s appointees answering questions beneath oath as a part of its state lawsuit in opposition to Disney.
District attorneys on Monday filed a movement for a protecting order that may cease the DeSantis-appointed board members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District from having to present videotaped depositions to Disney attorneys.
Disney and the DeSantis appointees are preventing in state courtroom over who controls the governing district for Disney World. The district had been managed by Disney supporters earlier than final yr’s takeover — which was sparked by the corporate’s opposition to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” regulation. It supplies municipal providers reminiscent of firefighting, planning and mosquito management, amongst different issues, and was managed by Disney supporters for many of its 5 many years.
District attorneys cite the “apex doctrine,” which typically supplies that high-level authorities officers shouldn’t be topic to depositions except opposing events have exhausted all different technique of acquiring info. The doctrine is utilized in only a handful of U.S. states, together with Florida.
“Disney cannot demonstrate that the individual board members have unique, personal knowledge that would be relevant to any of the claims, counterclaims or defenses in this action to overcome the apex doctrine,” district attorneys stated of their movement. “Disney’s assault-style effort to depose all the board members is simply an improper form of harassment of these high-level government officials.”
The movement contains statements from the board members who declare that being pressured to present depositions would “impede” their capability to satisfy their duties and divert sources and a focus away from overseeing the district.
Earlier this month, Disney gave discover of its intention to query beneath oath six present and previous DeSantis-appointed board members for the aim of “discovery,” or the method of gathering info for the case. The leisure big has stated beforehand that the district has stymied its efforts to get paperwork and different info, and Disney filed a public data lawsuit in opposition to the district earlier this yr, claiming the district’s response to its requests have been “unreasonably delayed” and “woefully inadequate.”
For the reason that takeover final yr, the district has confronted an exodus of skilled staffers, with many in exit surveys complaining that the governing physique has been politicized because the changeover. Simply this month, the district’s administrator left to become a county elections supervisor at half the $400,000 wage he was incomes on the district, and the district’s DeSantis-appointed board chairman departed the next week.
A combat between DeSantis and Disney started in 2022 after the corporate, going through significant internal and external pressure, publicly opposed a state regulation that critics have referred to as “Don’t Say Gay.” The 2022 regulation bans classroom classes on sexual orientation and gender id in early grades and was championed by DeSantis, who used Disney as a punching bag in speeches till he suspended his presidential campaign this yr.
As punishment, DeSantis took over the district by laws handed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and appointed a brand new board of supervisors.
Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees, claiming the corporate’s free speech rights have been violated for talking out in opposition to the laws. A federal decide dismissed that lawsuit in January. Disney has appealed.
Earlier than management of the district modified palms from Disney allies to DeSantis appointees early final yr, the Disney supporters on its board signed agreements with Disney shifting management over design and development at Disney World to the corporate. The brand new DeSantis appointees claimed the “eleventh-hour deals” neutered their powers, and the district sued the corporate in state courtroom in Orlando to have the contracts voided.
Disney has filed counterclaims that embrace asking the state courtroom to declare the agreements legitimate and enforceable.
