Home » US business news » Disney changes strategy in legal battle against Governor DeSantis and allies
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Disney has shifted its legal strategy in Florida in the ongoing battle with Governor Ron DeSantis and his allies.
The legal clash is over Disney World's expansion plans.
Disney is narrowing the focus of its federal case, heeding DeSantis's recent call to "drop the lawsuit."
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The company is now concentrating on the allegation DeSantis and his associates infringed upon its First Amendment rights.
Additionally, Disney has issued threats of new lawsuits to obtain access to public records.
The conflict between Disney and Governor DeSantis has continued for over a year.
It’s around a special tax district encompassing Disney World.
Disney's criticism of a Florida education law has promted Gov. DeSantis to assume control of the tax district.
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He appointed a new board and terminated Disney's long-standing authority to self-govern its 25,000-acre resort as an independent county.
However, before this transfer of power took effect, Disney had already entered into contracts to solidify development plans.
It totaled nearly $17 billion over the next decade.
Efforts by DeSantis and his allies to invalidate these contracts gave rise to conflicting lawsuits.
Disney filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the tax district, while the newly appointed officials retaliated with a state lawsuit.
State Judge Margaret Schreiber handed Disney an initial setback in July by denying its request to dismiss the countersuit.
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She ruled Disney could not halt the state case while focusing solely on the overlapping federal case.
She also declined to suspend the state case's proceedings until the federal lawsuit was resolved.
On Friday, September 1, Disney disclosed DeSantis and six state entities had not complied with public records requests made by the company's legal team in May as part of the discovery process.
Disney has issued ultimatums, indicating its intent to sue each entity under Florida's Public Records Act unless the requested materials are furnished by September 6.
Disney's requests encompass "all documents and communications, including but not limited to text messages, Signal messages, and WhatsApp messages on any devices" containing specific keywords, including "Disney" and "mouse."
A spokesperson for the governor's office didn’t immediately comment.
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