Disney Employees Sue Company Over Aborted Relocation Of 2,000 Employees From California To Florida

Two Disney employees who sold their homes in anticipation of a move to the Orlando, Florida area that never came to fruition, sued Disney earlier this week, saying that they are seeking damages after the company lied to them over the move.

In July 2021, Disney officials announced that  2,000 jobs would be moved from Disney’s headquarters in Burbank and to the Lake Nona campus outside Orlando over 18 months. While most employees resisted the move, many ultimately felt pressured to move, specifically those in the  Parks, Experiences and Products division. Despite employee resistance, Disney continued to move forward with their plans. Employees began moving to Florida that November.

In 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom called on Disney employees to move back to California. Newsom specifically a Florida bill restricting the teaching of sex education, gender identity and sexual orientation in grades kindergarten through 3rd. The Florida legislation, as well as multiple issues with other aspects of Florida, had made many employees reconsider the move. Even with this, the Florida government, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, and Disney leadership fired back at the criticisms from California and employees.  While a few hundred did make the move in the last few years to Lake Nona, the bulk of employees had yet to move due to the project opening being delayed from 2023 to 2026. Many of those employees in the meantime held out hope that they could remain in California. After several weeks of back and forth, Disney also decided to oppose the bill, angering DeSantis.

Over the next several months, the relationship between DeSantis and the company worsened. It was all capped off by Governor DeSantis pushing to remove the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special Florida district that has allowed Disney run the Disney World resort how they see fit on a local level, and return the park to the traditional structure under a local government. As control of the area would greatly challenge and hinder park operations, Disney and DeSantis fought over the District. In April 2023, Disney sued DeSantis over control of the District. DeSantis pushed back and signed a bill into law earlier this month formally eliminating the District. With their special status in Florida now gone, and the state government remaining hostile, Disney announced in May 2023 that they would no longer be developing their Lake Nona Development. All employees moves were halted, with those who had moved being ordered back to California as a result. The cancellation has also been a part of the general change in moves between the two states, with more Floridians moving to California than vice versa for the last few years.

Governor Newsom quickly chalked it up as a win, saying that “Authoritarian policies have consequences. This announcement is a victory for California, and the tens of thousands of Disney employees who know they can live in a state where they are respected and safe. Disney has invested billions of dollars in California, and we look forward to their increased investment and growth in our state.”

The lawsuit

While the political aspects of the move quickly dissipated, fallout from employees only began. Many who made the move now not only had to sell a home in Florida, but they had to move back to the Los Angeles-area, where home prices only rose in the last few years. Two employees, Maria De La Cruz, a vice president of product design, and George Fong, a creative director of product design, specifically had to move from homes in Altadena and South Pasadena respectively. For Fong, the move had been especially painful as he had sold his childhood home to make the move.

With Disney have essentially forced them to make the move and move back again, causing employees to lose homes and other prized properties, both De La Cruz and Fong decided to sue Disney this week. According to the suit, Disney said that employees would have “more affordable housing, strong performing schools and the availability of lifestyle amenities in and around Lake Nona. A large percentage of affected California employees declined to relocate to Lake Nona.” However, the company allegedly pressured employees to make the move and “made it clear that employees who declined the relocation would lose their jobs.

“In sum, employees were incentivized to move through a combination of reward and punishment. An employee could choose to move to a better life in Florida, or alternatively, choose not to move and be terminated by Disney. Communications by Disney’s senior leadership in the wake of the Lake Nona cancellation were scant or nonexistent.”

Both of the former employees filed the suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court, suing on behalf of all impacted employees, seeking damages for a disruptive and fraudulent move.

As of Friday, Disney has yet to respond to the new suit. However, legal experts noted that settlement talks would likely be difficult to narrow down as employees were all affected differently by the aborted move, with some never leaving California, and others selling homes and having already made the move to Florida.

“This is going to be a tricky one for Disney,” explained legal researcher Mark Epstein to the Globe on Friday. “2,000 employees were affected by the move. But some never so much as even looked at the Florida housing market, while others were they in Lake Nona in new homes. Everyone just saw the political and economic turmoil of it, but when you look at it a year later, it really disrupted a lot of people. Disney has to quantify that, and it won’t be easy.”

More on the case is expected soon.