A judge has cleared some Disney employees in a lawsuit over the canceled Lake Nona campus to take Disney’s early retirement offer. About nine people in the proposed class qualify.
Some Disney employees in a lawsuit over the company’s canceled move to Florida can now take Disney’s early retirement deal.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge signed an order Thursday, Nov. 12, letting eligible members of the proposed class join Disney’s voluntary early retirement plan, MyNewsLA reports. About nine members of the proposed class qualify, according to the lawyers’ joint court papers.
What is the Disney Lake Nona lawsuit about?
The case goes back to 2021. That year, then-CEO Bob Chapek announced a $1 billion campus in Lake Nona, a planned community in Orlando. Disney planned to move about 2,000 jobs there from Southern California.
Disney wanted to save money with lower costs and Florida tax breaks.
Maria De La Cruz and George Fong both worked in Disney’s product design group. De La Cruz was a vice president of product design, and Fong was a creative director, according to WDWNT.
The lawsuit says Disney gave affected workers 90 days to decide whether to move. The pair agreed to relocate in November 2021. The suit claims Disney made it clear that workers who said no would lose their jobs.
De La Cruz sold her home in Altadena in May 2022. Fong sold the Los Angeles home he grew up in and inherited, which the suit calls a painful choice. Both bought homes in central Florida.
Why did Disney cancel the Lake Nona campus?
Disney canceled the Lake Nona project in May 2023. The campus was never built.
In Florida, the pair worked out of an office in Kissimmee while they waited for the campus, the suit says. After the plan was scrapped, both moved back to California to keep their jobs.
The lawsuit says home prices near Lake Nona dropped after Disney’s announcement. Fong bought a smaller home in South Pasadena after he returned.
Disney said at the time that it would work with employees who had already moved and help them return to California if they wanted. The lawsuit claims the relocation packages Disney offered were not enough.
What are the plaintiffs asking for?
The pair filed the proposed class action in June 2024 in Los Angeles Superior Court. They want the case to cover all current and former California Disney workers who moved to Florida for the Lake Nona plan, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The suit says the workers were “fraudulently induced” to move. It seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.
MyNewsLA’s report did not include a response from Disney.
What is Disney’s early retirement offer?
Disney rolled out its Voluntary Early Retirement Offer, called VERO, in August. Chief People Officer Sonia Coleman announced it in a memo to employees at the director level and above, Deadline reported.
It is open to U.S. executives from director up to executive vice president. They must work in Disney Entertainment, ESPN or corporate jobs. To qualify, they must also:
Be at least 50 years old.
Have worked at Disney for at least 10 years.
Reach 65 points when their age and years of service are added together.
Employees on contracts are not eligible. That leaves out most of Disney’s top executives.
The deal includes up to a year of pay, based on rank and time at the company. Stock awards keep vesting for three years. Health care stays at employee rates while the pay lasts.
People who take it also get lifetime access to Disney’s Silver Pass, which gets them into the theme parks outside of blackout dates. Taking the deal does not stop someone from getting a new job.
Why does the early retirement order matter?
The order lets about nine qualifying workers in the proposed class take part in the program while the lawsuit goes on. Lawyers for both sides filed the court papers together.
It comes as Disney keeps cutting costs under CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took over in March. The company has made several rounds of layoffs this year, including hundreds of jobs in human resources and technology this fall, Fox Business reports.
Deadline called VERO the first early retirement offer at Disney in recent memory.
What happens next in the Lake Nona case?
The two sides have a mediation session set for Dec. 4, MyNewsLA reports. A status conference on settlement talks is scheduled before Judge Lawrence Riff on Dec. 15.
In mediation, both sides try to settle with help from a neutral person. If it works, the case could end without a trial.
We will update this story if the two sides reach a deal.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
MyNewsLA (Nov. 14, 2026), the court order, the nine qualifying class members and the December dates
WDWNT (June 2024), the plaintiffs’ roles, the $1 billion campus and the 90-day deadline
Yahoo News (June 2024), the Kissimmee office and the May 2023 cancellation
Los Angeles Times (June 2024), the proposed class, the home sales and the “fraudulently induced” claim
Deadline (Aug. 2026), the VERO memo, eligibility and package terms
Fox Business (Sept. 2026), the fall layoffs and the CEO timeline
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