Days after the amusement behemoth launched its litigation against the board, the board in charge of Disney’s special revenue district—which had been established by and supports the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis—elected this Monday to take legal action against the corporation.
Martin Garcia, CEO of the Florida Tourism District board of directors, said that since they had been sued by Disney and it was not vice versa, they had no choice except to respond. Adding that they would look for justice.
Ron DeSantis’ Hostility With Disney
The conflicting lawsuits come after fourteen months of rising hostilities between Disney and the governor of Florida over an area statute that limits the instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in educational institutions. After the leader of Republicans moved to seek control of the business’s special revenue district and appoint a selective board to manage Disney’s sizable holdings across Orlando, the conflict has heated up recently. Disney and the departing board had agreements in place before the committee was chosen in February that restricted the authority of Ron DeSantis’ appointees.
Disney filed a lawsuit against Ron DeSantis and the new committee after the board’s decision the previous week to annul those agreements. Disney claims in the suit that DeSantis used his political influence as a weapon to accuse the business of exercising its right to free speech. On Monday, Ron DeSantis reinforced this idea.
At a press conference in Titusville, Florida, the governor stated that what they were attempting to do was uphold people’s will regarding what they did to ensure that no one was commanding themselves as big corporations.
He added that every organization was required to obey the rules, and the key problem was the question of good governance. Additionally, he charged Disney with having a political objective.
