Bob Iger, chairman of The Walt Disney Company.
Drew Angler | Getty Images
disney Urges a federal court to reject Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request to disqualify a judge overseeing the company’s lawsuit, which accuses the governor and his allies of political retaliation.
Lawyers for DeSantis have argued that Judge Mark Walker should recuse himself from the lawsuit because he raised the governor’s clashes with the entertainment mogul in two separate cases.
Disney — which has been feuding with DeSantis since last year, when the company opposed his bill, which critics dubbed “Don’t Talk Gay” — responded that the defendant’s arguments did not meet the legal standard for disqualification.
Disney’s lawyers argued in a court filing on Thursday: “There is nothing prohibiting judges from accurately citing widely reported news events during oral arguments, and they are not permitted to do so if a case related to those events happens to come before them months later. Nor can you disqualify yourself.”
“Disqualifications are permitted only where prior comments have shown that the judge is incompetent to consider the new case on its own merits,” the lawyers wrote, adding that the judge’s related comments “fall far short of that standard.” .
Disney’s lawsuit says DeSantis “orchestrated at every step” a campaign to punish the company for speaking out against a Florida bill that would limit classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity. Disney claims the alleged scheme now threatens the company’s business.
“The lawsuit we filed last month makes our position and the facts very clear,” Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said on the company’s earnings call earlier this month. “It’s really about one thing, and one thing only, which is retaliation for taking a stand on our pending legislation.”
The effort to remove Walker as a judge in Disney’s civil case comes days before DeSantis launches his 2024 presidential campaign in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Florida. The governor, who is seen as a leading contender for former President Donald Trump’s Republican nomination, has gained national prominence for his involvement in numerous political battles.
A long-running battle between the ambitious politician and one of his state’s top employers has spilled into the courtroom after the governor’s handpicked officials voted to cancel a Disney deal to develop a regional park in Orlando.
Disney filed the lawsuit in late April after its new board of directors in the district voted to revoke a development contract the company said it had struck to secure its investment. The company has since updated that lawsuit to include newly passed legislation targeting its monorail system as further evidence of the governor’s retaliation.
DeSantis’ next volley was for Walker. Walker was nominated by then-President Barack Obama in 2012 to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
In 2018, Walker opposed the state, ordering then-Governor Rick Scott to restore voting rights to felons after they were released from prison.
That same year, he ordered the Florida Department of Corrections to continue hormone therapy for a transgender female inmate and provide her with lingerie and grooming products. The inmate who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria was placed in a men-only correctional facility.
Representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.