Former Disney Employee Sues Company Over Disability Accommodations

A former Walt Disney World Cast Member is now filing a lawsuit against the company after she claims they failed to accommodate her disability, and then retaliated by cutting her hours.

Morgan Schoepfer, 23, grew up as a huge Disney fan and so she was thrilled when she landed what she thought was her dream job.

The Maryland native worked in World of Disney, which is a giant Disney retail store located in Disney Springs at Walt Disney World, but unfortunately, she claims it is not what she dreamt it would be.

Schoepfer is now filing a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company after she claims they did not accommodate her disability, which then led the company to retaliate against her by cutting her hours and ultimately fired.

“Working at Disney was a dream for Plaintiff until she found herself in the most hostile work environment she had ever experienced,” according to Schoepfer’s lawsuit, which was filed last week in federal court per Florida Politics.

The 23-year-old has been diagnosed with multiple different health issues, including cerebral palsy, Crohn’s disease, Gastroparesis and Colonic Dysmotility, which the lawsuit says causes paralyzation of the large intestine, causing her to need to use the bathroom frequently.

In order to help alleviate some of the symptoms that come with these health issues, Schoepfer said she requested to sit in a chair to rest every 30 minutes, which she says could be possible if she worked at the cash register inside of the store. Other accommodations that the 23-year-old requested, per the lawsuit, included not lifting anything above 10 pounds due to her cerebral palsy diagnosis as it can affect her balance, access to the bathrooms due to her Colonic Dysmotility diagnosis, and not handling open food or cleaning the bathroom.

However, the lawsuit goes on to claim that The Walt Disney Company did not comply or work with her to ensure these accommodations could be met, and the managers at the store did not take her complaints seriously. According to the lawsuit, the managers even scheduled her to work on the sales floor, meaning she could not have access to a chair, and to the stock room, forcing her to carry heavy boxes.

In September, the former Disney Cast Member claims she got dizzy and light-headed after she was standing for too long without rest, and ended up collapsing and then suffered from a seizure. She went to the hospital, but when she was released, an employee relations senior manager told Schoepfer, “We are a big corporation, so we do make mistakes. We’d like to do better but we will not get there overnight,” per the lawsuit.

Schoepfer also claims that she soiled herself on multiple occasions due to the fact that Disney failed to accommodate her bathroom needs.

The 23-year-old is not only accusing Disney of failing to accommodate her disabilities but also that the company then retaliated against her after she made a complaint last year.

She says at first, her hours were cut, and the company pressured her to quit, but then she was ultimately fired on November 30, per the lawsuit.

“Being chronically ill doesn’t get to hold you back. You fight for answers, you adapt, you grow, you fight, and you keep going,” Scheopfer wrote. “If you feel like something is wrong, speak up. And if no one’s listening, shout until someone does.”

Scheopfer's attorney, Brett Kaplan, told Florida Politics in a statement, “We intend to prove that Disney subjected Ms. Schoepfer to an abusive environment because of her disabilities. We commend Ms. Schoepfer — a disability advocate in her own right — for coming forward and sharing her experience. We look forward to presenting our client’s claims in court, and ultimately, holding the Defendant accountable.”