The Walt Disney Company is seeking to prevent a deposition of Tom Staggs, the current Chief Operating Officer of the company, regarding Disney’s implementation of the Disability Access Service in 2013. At the time of the program’s launch, Staggs was chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts which implemented the policy following abuse of the previous Guest Assistance Card program.
Several families with autistic children are claiming that the new policy, which holds a guest’s place in line instead of immediate access, violates the law as their children are unable to wait for attractions, even if they are not waiting in line.
Disney’s legal team, in response to the request to depose Mr. Staggs, stated that he has “…no unique personal knowledge of the relevant facts at issue in this case, his deposition is improper and unwarranted. Any information you plan to seek from Mr. Staggs can be obtained through less intrusive methods of discovery such as serving interrogatories or deposing lower- level employees.”
Disney also claimed that “every second of Mr. Staggs’ time is valuable and sitting for a deposition is a distraction that courts seek to prevent.”
Disney claims to provide excellent service for guests with disabilities including accessible attraction vehicles, handheld captioning, special guidemaps, and more.
Those suing Disney are claiming that as a result of Disney’s policies, they are subjected to “meltdowns” from their cognitively impaired children.