Donald Duck Groping Suit

[Len90]

Here's the story from the Orlando Sentinel: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-dail ... 6435.story

Judge won't dismiss Disney World groping lawsuit

Judge says April Magolon's lawsuit claiming post-traumatic stress from 2008 incident at Epcot will proceed in Pennsylvania

The Associated Press

5:50 PM EST, January 3, 2011

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania woman who claims Donald Duck groped her at Disney's Epcot theme park can have her day in court, a federal judge has ruled.

Disney must defend April Magolon's claims that the character grabbed her breast as she held her child at the Walt Disney World park and then joked about it.

Magolon, 27, of Upper Darby, claims the May 2008 encounter left her with post-traumatic stress in the form of nightmares, digestive problems and other permanent injuries.

Her lawsuit also charges that Disney parks have a history of fondling complaints involving workers, and that Disney has "condoned" their actions, putting profits over public safety.

In court papers, the defense argued that Magolon sued the wrong Disney corporate entity and asked the judge to dismiss the suit or move it to Florida, where the encounter took place.

But U.S. District Judge John R. Padova refused, saying Magolon can proceed in Pennsylvania.

"She, her fiance (who was a witness to the alleged assault), and her treating doctors are all located in Pennsylvania," Padova wrote in a Dec. 29 ruling.

Disney also has greater resources to try the case in Pennsylvania than Magolon does to try it in Florida, he said.

Magolon does not have a listed phone number, and her lawyer did not immediately return calls for comment Monday on the ruling. Disney will comment only through the court proceedings, Walt Disney World spokeswoman Andrea Finger said.

According to Magolon's lawsuit, authorities in Florida received 24 related complaints in the week after a Walt Disney World employee dressed as " Tigger" was charged with molesting a 13-year-old girl and her mother in 2004. At least some were deemed credible and investigated by police, the suit said.

The man playing "Tigger" was later acquitted of criminal wrongdoing, after his lawyer donned the Tigger costume in court and argued that his client couldn't see much.

On the flip side, a 60-year-old Pennsylvania man was convicted last year of groping a woman in a Minnie Mouse costume at Walt Disney World.

John William Moyer, of Cressona, insisted he was innocent. But a Florida judge sentenced him to probation, community service and $1,000 court costs for misdemeanor battery.

The victim said she had to do everything possible to keep Moyer's hands off her breasts.

I honestly find it tough to believe that a character could get away with doing something like this since Donald is always accompanied by handler wherever he appears in EPCOT. Secondly, I find the long lasting affects that they victim is suffering to be a bit drawn out.

[Amy]

This does seem a bit out of proportion. I can't believe a character would do something like this. It will be interesting to see how the case plays out, if it is even allowed to be publicized. I'm guessing Disney will end up settling out of court.

[MoonPet]

Here's the story from the Orlando Sentinel: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-dail ... 6435.story

Judge won't dismiss Disney World groping lawsuit

Judge says April Magolon's lawsuit claiming post-traumatic stress from 2008 incident at Epcot will proceed in Pennsylvania

The Associated Press

5:50 PM EST, January 3, 2011

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania woman who claims Donald Duck groped her at Disney's Epcot theme park can have her day in court, a federal judge has ruled.

Disney must defend April Magolon's claims that the character grabbed her breast as she held her child at the Walt Disney World park and then joked about it.

Magolon, 27, of Upper Darby, claims the May 2008 encounter left her with post-traumatic stress in the form of nightmares, digestive problems and other permanent injuries.

Her lawsuit also charges that Disney parks have a history of fondling complaints involving workers, and that Disney has "condoned" their actions, putting profits over public safety.

In court papers, the defense argued that Magolon sued the wrong Disney corporate entity and asked the judge to dismiss the suit or move it to Florida, where the encounter took place.

But U.S. District Judge John R. Padova refused, saying Magolon can proceed in Pennsylvania.

"She, her fiance (who was a witness to the alleged assault), and her treating doctors are all located in Pennsylvania," Padova wrote in a Dec. 29 ruling.

Disney also has greater resources to try the case in Pennsylvania than Magolon does to try it in Florida, he said.

Magolon does not have a listed phone number, and her lawyer did not immediately return calls for comment Monday on the ruling. Disney will comment only through the court proceedings, Walt Disney World spokeswoman Andrea Finger said.

According to Magolon's lawsuit, authorities in Florida received 24 related complaints in the week after a Walt Disney World employee dressed as " Tigger" was charged with molesting a 13-year-old girl and her mother in 2004. At least some were deemed credible and investigated by police, the suit said.

The man playing "Tigger" was later acquitted of criminal wrongdoing, after his lawyer donned the Tigger costume in court and argued that his client couldn't see much.

On the flip side, a 60-year-old Pennsylvania man was convicted last year of groping a woman in a Minnie Mouse costume at Walt Disney World.

John William Moyer, of Cressona, insisted he was innocent. But a Florida judge sentenced him to probation, community service and $1,000 court costs for misdemeanor battery.

The victim said she had to do everything possible to keep Moyer's hands off her breasts.

I honestly find it tough to believe that a character could get away with doing something like this since Donald is always accompanied by handler wherever he appears in EPCOT. Secondly, I find the long lasting affects that they victim is suffering to be a bit drawn out.

That's what I was thinking too; the characters are never alone anymore. There is always at least one cast member there with them. I am sure that person ( handler) will need to appear in court.

[mindflipper]

Touching can happen accidentally, and that may be the case here. Like the rest of you, I find it hard to believe that you can grope someone without the handler(s) seeing it. However, I will not totally rule out the possibility either.

"Post-traumatic stress in the form of nightmares, digestive problems and other permanent injuries"? Permanent? Really? I find the "suffering" to be a bit unbelievable. I wonder if she has already a history of problems before this? I hope more details come out about this.

[jlpeaches255]

Just curious, but how could Donald "joke" about it, as said in the story?

[Amy]

Just curious, but how could Donald "joke" about it, as said in the story?

I suppose through pantomime. It does seem like it might be difficult in those big costumes with limited visibility. Maybe he did touch her inappropriately by accident and then tried to kind of "joke" it off? But I would think Disney would have dealt with it then if she had complained when it happened.

[jlpeaches255]

Just curious, but how could Donald "joke" about it, as said in the story?

I suppose through pantomime. It does seem like it might be difficult in those big costumes with limited visibility. Maybe he did touch her inappropriately by accident and then tried to kind of "joke" it off? But I would think Disney would have dealt with it then if she had complained when it happened.

That is what I was thinking...if he did those silly laughing moves and covered his eyes and such, you know how they do it. It could be embarrassment mistaken for joking about it.

[Len90]

Some very good points are being raised here. I do think that there may have been accidental contact as Donald might have been reaching for the kid who, as the story says, she was holding. This is one of those cases I really hope is kept open to te public and we receive information on how it turns out. Let's just hope the truth will come out in court and a jury will do the right thing, whatever that might be.

[Mr.ToadWildRider]

This does seem a bit out of proportion. I can't believe a character would do something like this. It will be interesting to see how the case plays out, if it is even allowed to be publicized. I'm guessing Disney will end up settling out of court.

I think Disney has consistantly battled these types of complaints without settling out of court. Every few years one makes national news and Disney's defense has always been essentially that the CMs in the "fuzzy" suits can a) barely see and b) even if they could see what they were doing you can't really even feel through the suit. Anyone who has hugged a fuzzy knows you can certainly feel a body in the suit but you can't necessarily feel with much specificity, which they argue goes both ways. I think Disney fights these suits particularly for the same reason the U.S.'s official policy on negotiating with terrorists: you negotiate once and you've just put up an "open season" sign on yourself. If they were handing out cash to anyone claiming a CM in a fuzzy suit groped them, they'd be paying off people every day.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's very possible that in the history of the company some sickos/perverts have probably been hired by the company and maybe even committed some of the alleged actions, but I think the truth it the vast majority of the cases are either mistakes by the CM given their lack of visibility/sense of touch or people looking to make a quick buck.

This particular case sounds like it might be a bit of both if it's true that "Donald" joked about it afterwards. As someone else opined, it sounds like maybe the alleged victim either made it known she was being touched inappropriately or maybe even "Donald" realized it and in a situation where the CM can't say "Hey, I'm sorry it was a mistake" they did what they could through pantomime. With respect to stomach issues and PTSD, c'mon lady really? You get PTSD when you see combat, or are victimized by a violent offender, not because Donald Duck's fuzzy hand touched your chest in what I suspect was a rather small period of time.

Also, I realize this doesn't necessarily invalidate the claim, but isn't Donald usually played by a woman? I was under the impression that most characters are played by female CMs because the characters' size is usually more slight than would accomidate a male actor. There are obviously exceptions, I think Goofy, Tigger, and Pluto are all generally men because they are generally taller but I could be wrong.

[DIAC1987]

Another example of a person trying to drain out some cash from a larger business...

[mindflipper]

With respect to stomach issues and PTSD, c'mon lady really? You get PTSD when you see combat, or are victimized by a violent offender, not because Donald Duck's fuzzy hand touched your chest in what I suspect was a rather small period of time.

In theory, she could suffer an out-of-proportion PTSD if she's had some past traumatizing event, but it would make one wonder if she didn't over-react to the entire event as well. Only time and more press coverage will tell what is truely going with this case.

One of the things I don't like is the fact the claim of PTSD here in this case will have a negative impact on the public perception of PTSD. As Mr.ToadWildRider pointed, there are some legitimate and tragic circumstances that create PTSD out there in the world, but this claim will give people the idea it's not a condition to be taken seriously.

[99Soulz]

I also read that she is suing for $50k. That amount seems really low if she is really trying to just make a buck. Not saying $50k is chump change but that's seems like a lot of trouble to go through for that amount, less attorney fees.

[aboden]

*Sigh* I hate these lawsuits, granted if their was wrong doing I totally agree but the fuzzies have to much padding and I agree that he may have been reaching for the child if there was touching involved. Lets see a huge padded hand, there's a lot of area there that's going to touch things. Plus groped I think is such a big word. The images that it brings to mind I can never see happening in the park without so many people watching. I mean those lines to meet the characters are long and everyone is watching.

[masterj345]

lol, disney lawyers must be the "happiest lawyers on earth" ??? or maybe not !?!

[Amy]

lol, disney lawyers must be the "happiest lawyers on earth" ??? or maybe not !?!

Good one They are probably some of the busiest anyhow