Everyone in Florida knows that Mickey Mouse is a potentate. Well, everyone except, apparently, Governor Ron DeSantis, who doesn’t care that the Disneyworld theme park employs 45,000 people at a minimum wage of $15 an hour, when in this state it’s 11.
But it will be more. Before the end of the year, Disney workers will earn $18 an hour after an intense lobbying with the administration in which the power of the Disney brand and the bargaining power of its employees came to light.
The governor does not seem to have understood this detail because Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co. are embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute: it began when the company criticized a Florida law last year, which has led to a duel of lawsuits and countersuits. .
On April 26, the entertainment giant sued the Republican governor in federal court alleging that he was “arming” the state government in retaliation for the company’s criticism of a law that prohibits classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity. Opponents labeled the measure the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
In the late 1990s, Disney was the first major Florida company to extend employment benefits, such as insurance and benefits, to the same-sex partners of its employees. This sparked a barrage of criticism from Republicans and the Catholic Church.
That is why some observers have commented that this fight could have an ideological background because Disney has a very liberal policy with its employees. But there are also his well-known contributions to the Democrats.
In this federal lawsuit, the company alleges that DeSantis rallied the Republican-controlled legislature to strike back at Disney and seize control of the district’s administrative board, created in 1967, which helped Disney develop theme parks and hotels. This board has also been sued.
But instead of responding in federal court, the state countersued Disney in state court and appointed a DeSantis-friendly board of directors.
Another Disney lawsuit claims DeSantis violated the company’s protections by disregarding the US Constitution, including the First Amendment right to free speech.
In addition, it violated due process, contracts and the expropriation clauses of the Constitution by declaring null and void the development agreements of the company, agreed with the old board. Disney is asking the court to strike down the laws that protect the creation of the new administration of the district.
Right now the Disney case is advancing before federal judge Mark Walker, in Tallahassee. And the Florida district case is in state court before Judge Margaret Schreiber in Orlando.
The district could file a motion in federal court asking Walker to dismiss or provisionally stay Disney’s federal case. Legal doctrines hold that federal judges should refrain from hearing a case involving a state court proceeding.
The curious thing is that both cases could proceed simultaneously. Although the legal theories are different, both courts were asked to decide whether the agreements between Disney and the previous board were valid. It is then possible that the judges arrive at contradictory answers.
Meanwhile, theme parks remain Disney’s most successful business segment. In fiscal 2022, Disney’s parks division made $7.9 billion in operating profit.
In accordance with Political, DeSantis is falling out of favor with an important segment of deep-pocketed Republican donors: Wall Street. More than a dozen bankers, lawyers and consultants have lost regard for him because of his war vs. Disney.
