Disney To Take Filmed Deposition of CFTOD Administrator Glen Gilzean
As part of the ongoing state lawsuit between the Ron DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) and The Walt Disney Company, district administrator Glen Gilzean will undergo a videotaped deposition.
The news comes after Disney accused the CFTOD of withholding information related to the district’s lawsuit against the company. The deposition will take place on April 9, 2024, at the offices of O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles, California.
Glen Gilzean. Photo: Jim Carchidi/Orlando Business Journal
How We Got Here
The CFTOD is suing Disney in state court over last-minute binding agreements that the company made with the former Reedy Creek Improvement District in the waning days of that entity’s existence.
Those agreements essentially gave Disney regulatory control over their Central Florida land in perpetuity.
Reedy Creek
Disney later countersued the CFTOD, accusing the board of breaching the contracts that it signed with Reedy Creek.
Disney Accused the CFTOD Of Withholding Information
Previously, company lawyers asked Orange County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schreiber to force the CFTOD to turn over certain records and respond to written questions submitted by Disney.
The records in question included communications about the Reedy Creek agreements that were written or received on CFTOD representatives’ personal devices.
The Reedy Creek board. Photo: Also Fox News
“It’s enough to really get you to ask, ‘What is it they’re trying to hide here?” Disney attorney Stephen Brody said.
According to Disney, the CFTOD made no effort to compile the requested documentation.
The Walt Disney Company. Photo: Also Disney
“The district appears to have made no effort to search for, collect, or review documents from personal email accounts or mobile devices of district board members and employees,” said Brody.
The CFTOD’s Response
For their part, the CFTOD argued that the special district had complied to the best of its ability but that some of Disney’s requests were too burdensome to compile.
“One of the things that has been a little frustrating is that Disney essentially is complaining that they don’t think that we produced enough documents,” Huck said. “We’ve reviewed over 289,000 documents in response to this. Including tens of thousands of documents that were reviewed from senior members of staff at the district.”
The former Reedy Creek. Photo: Also Fox Business
The CFTOD had also previously argued that Disney’s questions were irrelevant to the case.
“How and why the board and the district administrator were appointed or hired is irrelevant to whether those actions are lawful,” said Huck. “That’s not what this case is about, and that’s not what Disney’s counterclaim is about.”
CFTOD logo. Photo: Also CFTOD
While the battle between the two sides will continue, a Gilzean deposition has at least been agreed upon.
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