Days after the entertainment behemoth launched its own lawsuit against the board, the board in charge of Disney’s special taxing district—which was established by and supports Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—voted on Monday 1 April, to take legal action against the corporation.
Martin Garcia, chairman of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors, said, “Since Disney sued us—yes, we didn’t sue Disney, Disney sued us—we have no choice but to respond.” Yes, we will look for justice locally.
The conflicting lawsuits come after 14 months of rising hostilities between Disney and the governor of Florida over a state statute that limits the instruction of s*xual orientation and gender identity in educational institutions.
After the Republican leader moved to take control of the business’s special taxing district and appoint a hand-picked board to manage Disney’s sizable holdings around Orlando, the conflict has heated up recently. Disney and the departing board had agreements in place before the board was chosen in February that restricted the authority of DeSantis’ appointees.
Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the new board after the board’s decision last week to annul those agreements. Disney claims in the lawsuit that DeSantis used his political influence as a weapon to punish the business for exercising its right to free speech.
The goal of the lawsuit, according to Garcia, is to “uphold and enforce” the board’s decision to nullify Disney’s agreements with the previous board.
At a press conference in Titusville, Florida, the governor stated, “Basically, all they’re trying to do is uphold the will of the people in terms of what we did to make sure that nobody’s governing themselves as a major corporation.” “I feel like that will be something that succeeds.”
No organization is above the law, he said, and the key problem is “the question of good governance.” Additionally, he charged Disney with having a political agenda.
They are merely attempting to advance an agenda and a story. And the truth is that a lot of people have long criticized Disney’s arrangement as being dishonest and unjust. The moment I stepped in to help unravel it, though, they flipped because they wanted to oppose me, according to DeSantis.
According to Garcia, the board will file its complaint in a state court in Central Florida. In the Northern District of Florida federal court, Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and the board. Mark Walker, the judge assigned to the case, was chosen by former President Barack Obama and has overturned the state on several of DeSantis’ priorities.
Check out more information we have covered related to Disney and Ron DeSantis:
- Disney Sues Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for Retaliation over Resort Authority
- Ron DeSantis to Build a New Pris0n Near Walt Disney World
Disney was charged with “forum shopping” by DeSantis in an interview he gave over the weekend to the British publication The Telegraph as per reports of CNN.
Garcia countered that Disney is attempting to prevent the state from acting to terminate that partnership since times have changed.
According to Garcia, Disney is essentially asking a federal judge in Tallahassee to turn the clock back to 1967 while this board is tasked by legislation with bringing the district into the 21st century with new and improved rules and practices.
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