CNN
—
Two workers are suing the Walt Disney Firm, saying the corporate moved their jobs from California to Florida, just for Disney to cancel the undertaking and transfer them again, hurting them financially and emotionally.
They’re proposing a category motion, alleging there are various others in an analogous scenario.
In 2021, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek introduced a transfer of two,000 positions from California to Florida. However in Might 2023, after CEO Bob Iger returned, the corporate canceled the $1 billion Lake Nona office complex amid a authorized and political battle with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that has since been settled.
The plaintiffs, Maria De La Cruz and George Fong, each work for Disney’s product design division. De La Cruz is vice chairman of product design, and Fong is a artistic director, in response to the criticism filed by Lohr Ripamonti LLP on Tuesday.
The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified quantity in damages, has not but been processed by the Superior Court docket of Los Angeles.
The criticism alleges that Disney misrepresented and hid its true plans for the Lake Nona undertaking, hurting – financially and in any other case – at the least 250 workers who had made the transfer from California to Florida.
The criticism states workers had been knowledgeable in regards to the undertaking to relocate 2,000 roles to Florida in July of 2021 and that Disney “made it clear that workers who declined relocation would lose their jobs.”
The criticism described how De La Cruz and Fong bought their properties in Southern California and bought properties in Central Florida. For Fong, that meant promoting the childhood residence that he inherited from his household.
After the Lake Nona workplace undertaking was canceled, De La Cruz emailed human sources in regards to the future for individuals who may select to remain in Florida, writing: “In spite of everything of this, will there be any safety in our positions? My concern could be that we determine to remain in Florida, solely to be laid off within the subsequent 12 months or so. I don’t need to be punished for being put right into a scenario my firm put me in,” the criticism says.
The criticism says De La Cruz and Fong determined to maneuver again to California to maintain their jobs, however housing costs within the Lake Nona neighborhood had dropped considerably after Disney’s announcement. Fong mentioned he had bother promoting his Florida residence, and when he managed to maneuver again to California, mortgage charges and residential costs had climbed so quickly that he was solely in a position to afford a smaller residence than he beforehand had.
“Ms. De La Cruz, Mr. Fong and lots of others dutifully moved to Florida as a result of they love their jobs, they love the individuals they work with, they usually love Disney,” Legal professional Jason Lohr mentioned.
Disney has not replied to a request for remark.