Choose refuses to dismiss lawsuit in opposition to Disney’s efforts to neutralize governing district takeover

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

The decide 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 Gay laws championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. In the opposite 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, usually accusing the leisure big of being too “woke.” Disney has accused the governor of violating its First Amendment rights.

Attorneys for Disney had argued that any choice in state court docket can be moot for the reason that 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 big had requested that the state court docket case be placed on maintain if it’s not dismissed till the federal lawsuit in Tallahassee was resolved since they coated 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 power of government to punish private business.”

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

The battle between DeSantis and Disney started final 12 months after the corporate, dealing with important stress internally and externally, publicly opposed a state legislation banning classroom classes on sexual orientation and gender identification in early grades, a coverage critics name “Don’t Say Gay.”

As punishment, DeSantis took over the district by laws handed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a brand new board of supervisors to supervise municipal companies for the sprawling theme parks and motels. But 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.