Judge Dismisses Worker’s COVID-19 Charges Against Disney
The Walt Disney Company’s oddly intense legal year has taken another twist.
Only weeks after a federal judge dismissed Disney’s lawsuit over the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, the company has won a different fight.
A former Disney worker attempted to avoid the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate by requesting a religious exemption.
Photo: Disney
Here’s what happened after that.
The Complaint
Photo: The Hollywood Reporter
Disney is often subject to nuisance lawsuits, as recently demonstrated by Elon Musk paying for someone’s legal defense.
However, what we’re about to discuss reflects a legitimate sticking point during the pandemic.
In 2020 and 2021, health officials in the United States followed the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Photo: cdc.gov
Disney conversed with the CDC on a regular basis and chose to enforce vaccine requirements as a safety precaution.
Since the COVID-19 treatment turned into a political issue, a percentage of the population resisted this mandate.
Disney found itself in a challenging legal and ethical position, one that impacted many other corporations and the federal government itself.
Image Credit: CDC
People unwilling to take the vaccine felt that companies like Disney infringed upon their civil liberties.
Nobody reading this wants to relitigate this heated debate, as we’re all just happy that the pandemic has ended.
Still, the legal ramifications of what Disney did at the time remain in question.
Photo:seoclerk.com
In this instance, Vires Law Group and CGS Law filed a complaint on behalf of former Disney worker Steven Gibbons.
According to the filing, Gibbons joined Disney as a Computer Systems Technician in 2017.
The lawsuit points out that Disney had many potential ways to implement its COVID-19 policy but chose to mandate vaccinations.
Photo: Rutgers
As an individual, Gibbons claimed that he had “opposed the vaccine on religious grounds.”
So, the worker requested a religious exemption on October 29th, 2021. Disney didn’t allow this exemption.
Soon afterward, the state of Florida banned such vaccine mandates.
Photo: MGN Online
At this point, Gibbons filed a second exemption request. Disney again refused.
Gibbons’ immediate superior followed the company mandate for “Augmented Protocols” involving unvaccinated workers.
After a series of incidents involving face mask enforcements, Disney suspended and eventually terminated Gibbons.
The fired employee later sued.
The Judge Rules in Disney’s Favor
Gibbons’s attorneys filed the case in February 2023.
On February 28th, 2024, District Court Judge Anne C. Conway ruled against him.
According to the legal arguments, Gibbons’s legal representatives argued that he was the victim in an employment discrimination lawsuit.
Photo: NY Post
Disney filed a motion to dismiss, and the judge agreed on seven counts.
Judge Conway dismissed two of these counts with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff cannot refile them.
That’s only part of the story, though. At one point, Gibbons was part of a group of several former Disney workers suing the company.
Seven different complainants filed nine charges against seven different individuals/Disney.
A judge ruled that because the firings came from different circumstances, they must be adjudicated separately.
Gibbons claimed discrimination, retaliation, and coercion as essential parts of his wrongful termination lawsuit.
Photo: cba.cj
Disney countered by arguing two points. The first was that the opposing lawyers were making a “shotgun pleading.”
Here’s an informative but humorous discussion of this sort of accusation, also known as the “kitchen sink” approach.
District/federal court judges do NOT like kitchen sink shotgun pleadings as a rule.
In this instance, the court determined that this filing didn’t fall under that umbrella, which meant it passed the first legal hurdle.
However, the judge ultimately determined that the lawsuit fell well short of its primary claim, religious bias.
Why the Judge Ruled for Disney
Photo: Miriam-Webster
Disney won this case because the legal filing failed to distinguish individuals from a corporation.
That’s a bit glib, but here’s the applicable text:
“Surprisingly, very few of Gibbons’s allegations specify a particular Defendant by name.
Credit: Disney
“Instead, Gibbons uses the broadly defined term Disney to encompass all Defendants.”
More importantly, the plaintiff’s legal challenge questions Disney’s vaccine mandate, its Augmented Protocols, and its enforcement.
Here’s why that argument failed. Judge Conway notes the following:
The Walt Disney Company
“Gibbons’s retaliation claim rests on the notion that he suffered an adverse action because of his protected activities challenging (Disney’s) defunct vaccine mandate.
“(This) casual inference is unreasonable given that the allegations clearly demonstrate that Gibbons’s termination was related to his repeated noncompliance with the company’s Augmented Protocols.
“In other words, Gibbons’s attempt to tie his suspension and termination to his objections and administrative filings challenging (Disney’s) unenforced vaccine mandate is not plausible.”
Effectively, the court has determined that Gibbons has nobody to blame but himself for acting out against mask enforcement policies.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
I realize there’s a hot-button aspect to this entire discussion.
Still, when your boss and your company ask you to do something, it’s your choice whether to throw a tantrum or not.
In this specific instance, the judge decided that the plaintiff’s actions caused his termination, not Disney’s policies or enforcement.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
More cases remain on the docket, so Disney hasn’t seen the last lawsuit on these grounds.
Also, the plaintiff could re-file for some of the charges.
Overall, this is a total legal victory for Disney, though.
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