Disney files lawsuit after DeSantis-appointed board votes to nullify last-minute agreements

Lydia Nusbaum contributed to this report.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (FLV) – The Walt Disney Company is now on defense, filing a lawsuit Wednesday after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointed board overseeing Disney World voted to nullify last-minute, far-reaching agreements.

Disney alleged that the governor-appointed board is engaging in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” that would threaten “Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”

They described the board’s Wednesday vote to commence nullification of Disney’s far-reaching agreements, that occurred before the new board was appointed, as the “last strike.”

DeSantis’ office responded, saying Disney has no “legal right” to “operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state.”

“This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law,” deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern said.

The board’s vote was unanimously against Disney’s agreements.

Disney’s comments in the lawsuit come shortly after the company’s CEO announced a $17 billion investment over 10 years in the Florida theme parks.

“The government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional,” Disney said in its lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in northern Florida.

The new board’s agenda for Wednesday described the agreements as “void and unenforceable.”

Earlier in April, DeSantis vowed the battle with Disney was not over and would not end with the megacorporation being victorious in its pursuit of maintaining special privileges and authorities.

“They negotiated with themselves to give themselves the ability to maintain their self-governing status,” DeSantis said. “Now that’s in direct defiance of the will of the people.”

The previous Reedy Creek district board, hand-picked by Disney, quickly slipped through an agreement to give Disney 30-year vested rights and control over all development rights throughout the entire district – not just on Disney’s property.

The Central Florida Tourism district learned in March about the last minute Disney agreement. Lawyers said the agreements “bind” the hands of the new board and are “unlawful.”

“That’s not going to work. That’s not going to fly,” DeSantis said. “The agreements themselves have a plethora of legal infirmities that render them void anyways.”

Disney previously said in a statement that “all agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate.”

CEO Bob Iger previously called DeSantis’ actions as “anti-Florida.”

“Our point on this is that any action that thwarts those efforts simply to retaliate for a position the company took sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida,” Iger said.

At the board’s last meeting, they outlined changes involving utility rates, public schooling, workforce housing and more.

“The corporation decided that compromise was out of the question,” district Chairman Martin Garcia said. “It was Disney’s way or the highway. This is why we were forced to hire litigation counsel.”