Disney employees suing for damages after project is cancelled

Disney employees who were ordered to relocate across the nation for a project that was eventually abandoned are suing the firm for damages.

They allege in a planned class action lawsuit that the media behemoth lied about its intentions when it declared in 2021 that it would establish a new $1 billion campus in Florida for employees of theme parks.

About 2,000 Californians were urged by the company to leave or relocate.

However, the corporation changed its strategy less than two years later.

According to the complaint, employees disrupted their lives and incurred significant relocation costs when they sold their family homes and purchased new ones because they had faith in Disney's statements.

After Bob Iger rejoined the firm in 2023 and swiftly launched a significant cost-cutting initiative, the corporation decided to reconsider its plans for the Lake Nona facility.

It also came after a well-publicized spat about Disney's connection with the state of Florida between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the firm.

The project's corporate roller coaster ride coincided with a significant increase in US mortgage rates and property prices, which some polls have indicated has made Americans less willing to move for employment.

Disney abandoned the proposal, but not before driving up housing values in the neighbourhood with its original intentions, according to the complaint.

According to the lawsuit, some Disney employees chose to quit rather than move, while others decided to wait, particularly after learning that the project would be delayed.

However, the complaint states that around 250 individuals consented to the transfer within the original timeframe that the corporation had specified.

(Sources: bbc.co.uk)