Employees Sue Disney After Relocating for Canceled Project

Walt Disney Co. is dealing with the repercussions of canceling its plan to relocate 2,000 employees from California to a new Florida location. This plan, involving a project that was scrapped last year following Bob Iger’s return as CEO, has led to two employees suing the company.

The two employees filing the class action lawsuit allege that the relocation has caused them significant emotional and financial distress, asserting that many others are facing similar challenges

In 2021, the previous CEO Bob Chapek and Chairman Josh D’Amaro revealed a strategy to relocate employees, including the key initial visionaries, to a $1 billion office complex in Lake Nona, Orlando. This initiative aimed to capitalize on Florida’s tax incentives, but when Iger returned as CEO, the company canceled the plan due to significant legal backlash from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that has now been resolved.

However, the legal battle for the company continues, but now with the unhappy employees who made the shift to Florida. According to CNN, at least 250 employees had already moved before the project was canceled.

According to the lawsuit filed by the firm Lohr Ripamonti & Segarich on Tuesday, Maria De La Cruz and George Fong, employed in Disney’s product design division, are the plaintiffs. De La Cruz serves as vice president of product design, while Fong holds the position of creative director, as stated in the complaint.

The lawsuit, which seeks undisclosed damages, is pending review by the Los Angeles Superior Court.

De La Cruz and Fong claim they were deceived into moving to Florida under false pretenses. They allege that Disney implied job loss if they refused relocation. Both agreed to move in November 2021 after Disney informed them they had 90 days to decide. They said Disney “made it clear that employees who declined relocation would lose their jobs.”

The lawsuit stated, “Mr. Fong also sold his home, which was a particularly painful decision because it was the family home he had grown up in and inherited.”

According to the complaint, following the cancellation of the Lake Nona office project, De La Cruz reached out to the company’s human resources via email to inquire about the future prospects for employees opting to remain in Florida, stating, “After all of this, will there be any security in our positions? My fear would be that we decide to stay in Florida, only to be laid off in the next year or so. I don’t want to be punished for being put into a situation my company put me in.” 

De La Cruz and Fong opted to return to California to retain their jobs, according to the complaint. However, they found that housing prices in the Lake Nona area had plummeted following Disney’s announcement. Fong encountered difficulties selling his Florida home, and upon returning to California, he faced skyrocketing mortgage rates and home prices, which forced him to settle for a smaller home than he had previously owned.

Disney is yet to comment. However, after announcing the project’s cancellation in May 2023, the company recognized that some employees had already relocated and stated that it would address the situation with each employee individually. This included arranging plans for their return to California, but the lawsuit claims that the compensation packages provided to the employees were insufficient.