Two Walt Disney Company employees who sold their homes in Southern California and moved across the country when the company announced it would move many jobs to a planned new campus in Florida — only to scrap those plans two years later — are complaining the global entertainment company. conglomerate.
In a proposed class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court — but still pending — Maria De La Cruz and George Fong claim they were told in 2021 that their jobs at Disney in Glendale were being moved to Florida . The employees both sold their homes in California and bought new homes in Florida.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday says the plaintiffs and other employees remained uncertain about the future of their jobs, adding that they “became concerned that their job security at Disney would be at risk if they did not return to California to work in the Disney offices in California. .”
The lawsuit also noted that home prices in the Florida area of the planned business development “declined significantly.”
“Meanwhile, home prices in the Los Angeles, California area increased significantly between the summer of 2022 and the summer of 2023,” the lawsuit said. “Mortgage rates had also increased significantly, making it impossible for plaintiffs and other similarly situated persons to obtain housing comparable to the homes they had sold in connection with the transfer of their functions to (Florida).”
Fong ultimately chose to return to California and discussed financial terms with Disney, but he was “extremely disappointed by Disney’s offer as it did not fairly compensate him for the damages he had suffered and would suffer.”
After several failed attempts, Fong was eventually able to sell the Florida home and bought a new home in South Pasadena earlier this year, but “with significantly less square footage than his previous home in Los Angeles.”
According to the lawsuit, De La Cruz is still in the process of moving back to California.
The lawsuit alleges employee recruitment through misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation, concealment and negligent misrepresentation. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Disney announced in 2021 that it planned to move employees to a new $1 billion office complex it planned to build near Orlando, home of the Walt Disney World Resort. At the time, the company touted Florida’s “business-friendly climate” and its “rich culture of hospitality” and “lower cost of living without income taxes.”
A short time later, however, Disney became embroiled in a series of battles with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, initially sparked by his signing of legislation in 2022 that limited instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the early grades.
Disney came under fire from critics and some employees for not publicly condemning the legislation. That eventually led to an apology from then-CEO Bob Chapek, and the company released a statement in violation of Florida law.
In the face of Disney’s public criticism, DeSantis began to publicly criticize the company and began an effort to crack down on Disney’s operations by taking away the self-governing privileges granted to the company’s theme park ownership more than 50 years ago .
In 2023, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis, accusing him of orchestrating a “government retaliation campaign” against the company that threatened its business operations. That dispute has now been resolved.
However, a month after the lawsuit was filed, Disney announced it was scrapping plans to move its approximately 2,000 employees from California to Florida.
Josh D’Amaro, president of the company’s Parks, Experiences and Products Division, announced the news in an email to employees. D’Amaro did not mention DeSantis by name or provide any details about the decision, citing only “changing business conditions.”
“Given the significant changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing operating conditions, we have decided not to proceed with construction of the (Florida) campus,” he wrote at the time.
“This was not an easy decision, but I think it is the right one. As a result, we will no longer ask our employees to move. For those who have already moved, we will talk to you individually about your situation, including the possibility to move back,” D’Amaro added.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Disney.
