California Disney employees who moved to Florida sue after CEO cancels $1 billion office deal
By Natasha Chen
Two employees are suing the Walt Disney Company, saying the company moved their jobs from California to Florida, only for Disney to cancel the project and move them back, hurting them financially and emotionally.
They’re proposing a class action, alleging there are many others in a similar situation.
In 2021, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced a move of 2,000 positions from California to Florida. But in May 2023, after CEO Bob Iger returned, the company canceled the $1 billion Lake Nona office complex amid a legal and political battle with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that has since been settled.
The plaintiffs, Maria De La Cruz and George Fong, both work for Disney’s product design division. De La Cruz is vice president of product design, and Fong is a creative director, according to the complaint filed by Lohr Ripamonti LLP on Tuesday.
Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies regarding the theme-park giant have been “not just anti-Florida, but anti-business.” (File photo by Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News
Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board administrator Glen Gilzean talks to chairman Martin Garcia, right, during the board’s meeting in the headquarters of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Wednesday, August 23, 2023. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Disney CEO Bob Iger has sued the State of Florida, alleging retaliation for the company’s criticism of a state education law. (Photo by Jordan Strauss, Invision/AP)
Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, says that moving about 2,000 admininstrative and creative jobs from Southern California to Florida will drive “further collaboration and creativity and allowing us to better integrate our business and functional teams.” (Photo by Chris Pizzello, The Associated Press)
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction at Florida’s Magic Kingdom. (Courtesy of Disney)
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens June 28 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. (Photo by Bennett Stoops, Courtesy of Walt Disney World)
Cast members squeegee the stage in front of Cinderella Castle as rain bands pass through the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Wednesday, August 30, 2023. All four of Disney’s Florida theme parks operated with normal hours as Idalia’s main impact was further north in the Big Bend area of the state. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed board votes Wednesday to invalidate Disney’s effort to thwart the state takeover of its special taxing district. Pictured are the headquarters of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount in damages, has not yet been processed by the Superior Court of Los Angeles.
The complaint alleges that Disney misrepresented and concealed its true plans for the Lake Nona project, hurting – financially and otherwise – at least 250 employees who had made the move from California to Florida.
The complaint states employees were informed about the project to relocate 2,000 roles to Florida in July of 2021 and that Disney “made it clear that employees who declined relocation would lose their jobs.”
The complaint described how De La Cruz and Fong sold their homes in Southern California and purchased homes in Central Florida. For Fong, that meant selling the childhood home that he inherited from his family.
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After the Lake Nona office project was canceled, De La Cruz emailed human resources about the future for those who might choose to stay in Florida, writing: “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,” the complaint says.
The complaint says De La Cruz and Fong decided to move back to California to keep their jobs, but housing prices in the Lake Nona vicinity had dropped significantly after Disney’s announcement. Fong said he had trouble selling his Florida home, and when he managed to move back to California, mortgage rates and home prices had climbed so rapidly that he was only able to afford a smaller home than he previously had.
“Ms. De La Cruz, Mr. Fong and many others dutifully moved to Florida because they love their jobs, they love the people they work with, and they love Disney,” Attorney Jason Lohr said.
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