Disney wants to keep food testing results confidential in wrongful death lawsuit

Disney is hoping to keep what could be the smoking-gun evidence hidden from the public in a wrongful death lawsuit^[1] that’s captured national attention. 

The matter in question: The food testing results from the frozen leftovers eaten by a woman who died from severe food allergies after going to a Disney Springs restaurant in October 2023.

Court records indicate Disney wants to keep the new food testing results confidential in the court case after an independent lab analyzed the remnants of Kanokporn “Amy” Tangsuan’s final meal at Raglan Road^[2].

“It is unclear what good faith basis Disney has to designate the results of the food testing as confidential, which would keep the results shrouded in secrecy,” Brian Denney, the lawyer representing Tangsuan’s widower Jeffrey Piccolo, wrote in a court filing this week^[3].

Denney’s court filing also revealed that five other people were improperly served their meals at the independently owned Irish restaurant on Disney World property in the three years before Tangsuan’s death. One of the incidents where somebody else with food allergies received a meal contaminated with allergens despite warning the restaurant happened only one month before Tangsuan died, the filing said.

Piccolo, who split with his wife after dinner, went back to the hotel and then stuck her doggy bag^[4] in the freezer, unaware it was going to be evidence in a future civil lawsuit, according to court records.

“Unbeknownst to him, his beloved wife and partner would be dead within the hour,” Denney said in the court filing. “Amy’s autopsy revealed that she suffered an anaphylactic reaction to dairy despite having repeatedly notified the Raglan Road staff at Disney Springs that she was deathly allergic to dairy.”

InBio Lab released the results of the food testing last week after the parties of the lawsuit agreed on testing protocols to see if there was any dairy found in the meal, which Tangsuan had ordered: broccoli, corn fritters, scallops, vegan Shepherd’s pie and onion rings.

“When a case involves the safety of food served to the public, transparency should be the rule, not the exception,” Denney said in a statement when reached for comment.

The new court records make it clear that the food test results would play a prominent role in the case against Disney and Raglan Road. The food test results would be Exhibit 1 at trial and also attached in “forthcoming motions as needed,” Denney wrote.

Disney World public relations and Raglan Road attorneys did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday on Denney’s court filings.

Denney accused Disney and Raglan Road of being heavy-handed in trying to keep records confidential^[5] in the ongoing 2024 lawsuit, as he argued most of the records in the case are not trade secrets and shouldn’t be shielded from public disclosure in court records.  

“It should be noted that the Defendants have not been making designations in good faith and have been designating almost every document produced as ‘confidential,’” Denney wrote in another recent filing^[6]. “Another example involves the designation of Raglan Road’s menu as ‘confidential,’ despite the fact that it is publicly available to anyone who chooses to dine at Raglan Road.”

Florida Politics broke the story of the wrongful death lawsuit and Disney’s controversial legal strategy^[7] to fight it, which generated a flood of bad publicity for Disney.

Disney tried to force the lawsuit into arbitration, citing a little-known provision in the fine print of the terms and conditions for the Disney+ streaming service and theme park ticket purchases.

Under public pressure, Disney later backtracked^[8] and agreed the lawsuit could proceed in court. 

Tangsuan, 42, a beloved doctor from New York, is remembered for her kindness and gentle nature.