Disney employees who were told they would have to move from Los Angeles to Florida to work at a new campus have launched a lawsuit after the company abandoned its new development plans.
The decision to reverse the move of 2,000 employees was made following the return of CEO Bob Iger. Plans to move executives working on theme parks and resorts to a planned office park in Orlando’s Lake Nona were announced in 2021 by then-CEO Bob Chapek and Chairman of Experiences at Disney Josh D’Amaro.
The move was intended to take advantage of Florida’s tax benefits, but it was a highly unpopular decision because staff were asked to relocate from Southern California. Some of those employees are now suing the company over the canceled move The Los Angeles Times.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, stating that some employees had sold their homes in Los Angeles and moved to Central Florida.
The plaintiffs, Maria De La Cruz and George Fong, say they believed they would lose their jobs if they did not agree to the move – and both agreed in November 2021. The lawsuit states that Disney told its employees affected by the move that they would have 90 days to decide.
De La Cruz, vice president of product design, sold her Altadena home in May 2022.
“Mr. Fong also sold his home, which was a particularly painful decision because it was the family home in which he had grown up and inherited,” the lawsuit said.
Disney canceled the project a year after they sold their homes.
The lawsuit seeks damages and represents “all current and former employees of California Disney who relocated from California to Florida as a result of Disney’s announcement of the Lake Nona Project.”
Disney planned to save money on its $1 billion investment in the Lake Nona project in the future due to lower labor costs in the Sunshine State. Another reason for the move was the state’s proposed tax breaks for relocating businesses.
However, the company’s subsequent culture war battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis affected the project. The project was canceled a month after Disney filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Florida. That legal wrangling has since been resolved, and Disney has confirmed it will continue to expand in the state.
The cancellation of the Lake Nona project also coincided with major cost cuts at Disney.
In May 2023, Disney said in a statement: “Given the significant changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions, we have decided not to move forward with campus construction.”
The company noted at the time that some of its workforce had already been relocated and said it would discuss with individual employees the options of moving them back to the Los Angeles area, but the lawsuit claims the compensation packages were not good enough .
The lawsuit also stated that some employees refused to move, but some still remained with the company. After the plans were reversed, home prices in Orlando have fallen, while in Los Angeles they have risen since 2022. Higher interest rates have also worsened the financial situation, the legal filings show.
Fong managed to buy a house in South Pasadena, but it has “significantly less square footage than his previous home in Los Angeles,” according to the lawsuit. De La Cruz is still working on his return to California.
The independent has contacted Disney for comment.