Disney has made a late-afternoon filing to the Orange County circuit court judge to declare that the Ron DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is unlawfully withholding public records and order the agency to provide Disney with all outstanding requested records immediately.
According to the lawsuit, on May 11, 2023, Disney submitted a public records request to CFTOD seeking specific documents. The district acknowledged the request and received payment but delayed producing the records for nearly four months without explanation. Disney issued a legal notice on August 29, 2023, after which the district partially complied, citing technological difficulties and incomplete disclosure. Following three more weeks of inaction, Disney expressed concerns in a letter dated September 21, 2023, about the district’s delays, vague technological issues, improper claim of attorney-client privilege, and records retention practices.
Disney points to a delay “so extreme that CFTOD still has yet to fully respond to a public records request Disney submitted seven months ago, in May of this year.”
Here is an excerpt from the lawsuit detailing Disney’s complaint against CFTOD:
CFTOD has failed and is failing to comply with its Public Records obligations in numerous ways, including:
a. Allowing employees and Board Members to use personal devices, personal email addresses, text messages, and messaging applications for District business, without adequate processes to ensure any public records contained therein are preserved or produced;
b. Failing to ensure that Board Members do not use auto-delete features on personal accounts used for District business;
c. Relying on Board Members or individual employees—including District Administrator Glenton Gilzean—to self-select text messages or emails responsive to public records requests on their own, without technical instruction from the district or any effort to verify compliance;
d. Relying exclusively on outside litigation counsel to collect Board Chairman Martin Garcia’s public records contained in his personal email account, without any process to verify compliance; and
e. Failing to preserve data from personal devices of departing employees.
Disney points to the departure of 50 district employees and the resulting impacts on its ability to deliver services. The lawsuit also references a testimony taken in pending litigation brought against Disney by CFTOD, the new Board was recently described by CFTOD’s public records administrator as “very, very, very politically-motivated.”
This is Disney’s second lawsuit against the Ron DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Disney’s federal April 26, 2023 lawsuit was filed in response to Governor DeSantis’ attempts to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District with his own hand-picked board. Disney’s lawsuit says that DeSantis’ actions violated its First Amendment and other constitutional rights, alleging they were motivated by retaliation due to the company’s opposition to the so-called “don’t say gay” law related to parental rights in schools.
