Disney’s magical world of terms and conditions
A married couple, one of whom, a doctor, is allergic to nuts and dairy products, sit down to eat at a Disney World restaurant. Following her usual routine, she reports her allergies to the staff and after being “unequivocally guaranteed” that the food did not contain allergens, she ate it, began to feel unwell, then administered an EpiPen to herself that she was carrying, but had to be transferred to hospital, where she died from complications caused by nuts and dairy products in the food that had been served to her.
Logically, the husband sued Disney, which first tried to avoid its responsibility by saying that the restaurant was a concession, and that it had an owner-tenant relationship with it. Then the company pretended to settle out of court via arbitration, because the husband had signed a clause waiving his right to take Disney to court. When had he signed it? Not when buying tickets on the website, but several years earlier, in 2019, when he accidentally activated a Disney+ subscription on his Play Station that he didn’t renew after the free trial ran out. In the terms of service of that subscription, there was a clause buried in the small print in which the user agreed to settle all possible disputes against the company through arbitration.
Like everybody else, the husband hadn’t read such terms of service, because they are…
