Disney workers who were told to move from Los Angeles to Florida to work at the new campus launched a lawsuit after the company abandoned its new development plans.
The decision to reverse the move of 2,000 workers came after the return of CEO Bob Iger. Plans to move theme park and resort employees to a planned Lake Nona office park in Orlando were announced in 2021 by then-CEO Bob Chapek and Disney Experience Chairman Josh D’Amaro.
The move was intended to take advantage of Florida’s tax breaks, but was a highly unpopular decision because employees were asked to relocate from Southern California. Some of those employees are now suing the company over the canceled move Los Angeles Times.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, saying a number of employees sold their Los Angeles homes and moved to Central Florida.
The plaintiffs, Maria De La Cruz and George Fong, say they were made to think they would lose their jobs if they didn’t agree to the move — and both agreed in November 2021. The suit says Disney told its employees affected by the move that they should 90 days to decide.
VP of Product Design De La Cruz sold her Altadena home in May 2022.
“Mr. Fong also sold his home, which was a particularly painful decision because it was the family home he grew up in and inherited,” the lawsuit states.
Disney canceled the project a year after they sold their homes.
The lawsuit seeks damages and seeks to represent “all current and former California Disney employees who relocated from California to Florida as a result of Disney’s announcement of the Lake Nona project.
Disney planned to save money on its $1 billion investment in the Lake Nona project in the future because of lower labor costs in the Sunshine State. Another reason for this move was the tax breaks for the relocation of businesses proposed by the state.
However, the company’s subsequent culture war with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis affected the project. The project was canceled a month after Disney filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit against the state of Florida. That legal dispute has since been resolved, and Disney has confirmed that it will continue to expand in the state.
The cancellation of the Lake Nona project also coincided with a major cost-cutting effort at Disney.
In May 2023, Disney said in a statement: “Due to significant changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new management and changing business conditions, we have decided not to proceed with construction of the campus.”
The company noted at the time that some employees had already relocated and said it would discuss options with individual employees to move them back to the Los Angeles area, but the suit says the compensation packages were not good enough.
The lawsuit also said that a number of employees refused to relocate, but some still remained with the company. After the cancellation of the plans, home prices in Orlando fell, while in Los Angeles they rose from 2022. According to the legal file, the financial situation was also worsened by higher interest rates.
Fong was able to buy a home in South Pasadena, but it has a “significantly smaller footprint than his previous home in Los Angeles,” the lawsuit states. De La Cruz is still working on moving back to California.
The Independent has contacted Disney for comment.