Man Files Lawsuit Over Disney World Due To Faulty Elevator

A Florida man is suing Reedy Creek Improvement District over, what he says, was a faulty elevator in Disney Springs that left him with injuries.

Disney Springs is a shopping and dining complex located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Per the lawsuit, a Disney World guest, Michael Johnson, was visiting Disney Springs in July of 2022 with his daughter. He says he was taking an elevator ride in the Orange Garage when the elevator, “malfunctioned by dropping several feet suddenly and without warning, then stopping abruptly, forcefully shaking, and dropping again before ascending to the fifth floor of the parking garage,” per the lawsuit.

The law also states that Johnson “suffered bodily injury in and about his body and extremities, resulting in pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, permanent and significant scarring, mental anguish, loss of the capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment, loss of earnings, and loss of the ability to earn money in the future.”

Not only is Johnson accusing the Reedy Creek Improvement District of failing to take care of the elevator and of not performing proper inspections, but he is also suing for $50,000 in compensatory damages.

The news was first reported by ClickOrlando.

This is by far the first lawsuit filed against the Reedy Creek Improvement District, now the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

In fact, The Blast recently reported that Walt Disney World filed a lawsuitagainst the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) for withholding public records.

The Disney Park in Orlando, Florida claimed that the CFTDO failed to comply with Florida’s public records law for unjustified delay and failure to produce records, failure to retain records, and failure to retrieve records. In September 2023, four months after Disney requested the records, the company threatened to file more lawsuits against CFTOD if they continued to fail to comply, and they are keeping their word.

“CFTOD’s failure to provide access to its records guaranteed by Florida law appears to stem from pressure put on CFTOD employees due to numerous departures since the installation of the district’s new board of supervisors, appointed to replace the outgoing board of CFTOD’s predecessor, the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” Disney claimed in the lawsuit.

“On the public records front, this has led to delays, inadequate preservation, storage, and production of public records, and improper and unsupported claims of privilege and exemption from disclosure," the lawsuit continued.

Walt Disney World specifically claims that the district “did not provide any text messages or voicemails on private devices from board members.”

For one example, Disney states that board chairman Martin Garcia refused to turn over such any text messages or voicemails, except to outside attorneys hired by the board. Others, however, have “self-selected” which documents to submit.

According to reports, the new lawsuit filed by Walt Disney World, “The CFTOD has prevented Disney from discovering the actions of its government through public records requests, in violation of Florida law.”

In the lawsuit, the company is asking an Orange County circuit court judge to set an “immediate” hearing to prove that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is “unlawfully withholding public records and order the agency to immediately provide Disney with all outstanding requested records.”

This is the third lawsuit Disney has filed against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.