Last July, Trisha Malone, a resident of San Diego, asked for an exemption from disability on a stand just outside the Disneyland and California Adventure themed parks.
The service of access to disabled people, or DAS, passed that she wanted to avoid her waiting in long lines for the Disney popular rides.
Malone met Disney representative staff for his DAS application interview. In this public context, they have requested private medical information from the disabled woman.
After a short exchange, Malone was rejected because his handicap did not meet the stricter das standards.
This refusal was detailed in a 32 -page reference complaint that Malone filed against the parks and seaside resorts of Walt Disney as well as partner Inspire Health Alliance at Orange County Superior Court on Monday.
Malone's complaint says Disney has violated confidentiality and has invaded its privacy, and violated the California civil rights and several civil rights codes.
Women's lawyers say in the complaint that the new DAS PASS standard “illegally excludes people with disabilities”. The complaint has provided no details on the applicant's handicap.
She asks Disney to return to a previous and less restrictive version of the DAS PASS application. She also seeks statutory damages, a return and the cost of lawyer fees.
The McCune Law Group, based in Ontario, which represents Malone, published a statement on his behalf, saying that the case concerns the people that the DAS Pass is supposed to benefit from it.
“Disney has arbitrarily determined that a wide range of disabilities are not eligible as such within the framework of the” Invalidity Access Service “program,” said the declaration sent by e-mail. “The park cannot offer a” great experience for everyone “while its DAS program continues to target and marginalize those which it claims to support and protect.”
A Disney spokesperson who asked not to be appointed said that the park is trying to provide great experience to its disabled visitors.
“Disney offers a wide range of effective accommodation and has worked a lot with experts to ensure that the individual needs of our customers are properly adapted to the accommodation they need, and we believe that the statements of this complaint are without foundation,” said the spokesperson.
Das of Disney is not a license to jump on hold. On the contrary, he offers a pass holder a return time for an attraction, where they will be placed online with those who have paid express access or Lightning Lane.
In April, Disney announced that it changed the qualifications of the DAS. The new wording noted That the DAS program, then the most popular in the park, was “intended to welcome guests who, due to a developmental handicap like autism or similar, cannot wait in a conventional queue for a long time.”
The changes came into force on May 20 at Disney World and June 18 in Disneyland.
Older standards were much widerFor guests “who find it difficult to tolerate prolonged expectations in an environment of a conventional queue due to a handicap.”
Disney said that due to this language, the use of the program tripled between 2019 and 2024.
It is these older standards, however, that Malone asks.
Malone continues on behalf of several unnamed disabled clients has denied a DAS pass since June 18. She included inspired Health Alliance, who, according to the trial, provided nurses who collaborated with Disney staff to determine the DAS dialogue.
Malone lawyers support the complaint that guests oblige to undergo a screening process with eligibility criteria that disproportionately affect physical disabled people are contrary to the UNruh law of California and the Americans with Disabilitites Act, or ADA.
Anruh prohibits discrimination by Californian companies based on age, ancestry, color, disability, national origin and a variety of other factors.
Disney has kept in previous interviews with the moments he offers Many accommodation for his disabled guests.
These include a sensory experience guide to indicate which parts of the park have strong noises, darkness and bump; What walks are fast; and which lifts the soil. Disney also offers interpreters in sign language, rental of wheelchairs and scooters, pocket subtitling and video legend on certain rides, and a dialogue and a narration of scripts on others.
As for waiting for the journey, Disney offers a process of “return to the queue”, which allows a party to hold an online place for a handicapped guest. There are a few other similar options, including “localization return time” accommodation offered to those of wheelchairs.
Malone lawyers said these adaptations “had not provided fair access and imposed industrial charges, logistical challenges, emotional distress and security risks”.
