ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – A California woman has filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts over its Disability Access Service (DAS) policies.
The plaintiff, Trisha Malone, claims that Disney’s DAS policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Unruh Civil Rights Act by imposing discriminatory eligibility criteria and requiring unnecessary public disclosure of sensitive medical information.
The class action lawsuit, filed this week in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, also names Inspire Health Alliance, LLC, a healthcare provider contracted by Disney to conduct medical screenings for DAS eligibility. The complaint alleges that these screenings often took place in public settings, violating privacy laws.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Last year, Disney updated its DAS policy for its U.S. theme parks, specifically the wording on who qualifies for the policy, such as accommodating only those guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar disorder, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.
DAS also limits the party size to immediate family members (or no more than four guests) and the entire registration process must be done online and not in person.
The lawsuit seeks to represent individuals who applied for Disney’s DAS program at Disneyland and California Adventure on or after June 18, 2024. The lawsuit challenges Disney’s restrictive DAS eligibility criteria, which allegedly exclude individuals with physical disabilities, and claims that Disney coerced guests into signing deceptive terms and conditions.
The plaintiff seeks class “certification,” statutory damages, and injunctive relief to prevent further violations of privacy and discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
A letter included in the lawsuit also requests that language limiting DAS qualifications to developmental disabilities be removed.
News 6 has reached out to Disney for comment.
The full lawsuit has been attached to this story and can be read in the media viewer below.
You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below: