Judge Whose Daughter Works For Disney Removes Herself From Relocation Lawsuit
deadline.comThe judge in the case of two women suing Disney over its scrapped plan to move staffers 2,500 miles across the country has stepped down because her daughter works for Burbank-based conglomerate.
Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl stepped aside last week, and a new jurist — Judge Lawrence P. Riff — was assigned Wednesday to oversee the women’s lawsuit alleging that the company coerced them and other colleagues to relocate from Southern California to Orlando.
In their misrepresentation and concealment suit filed June 18 in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here), VP Product Design Maria De La Cruz and Director of Product Design George Fong allege that Disney in 2021 asked to relocate to the company’s planned new “campus” in the Lake Nona planned community in Olrando, promising them affordable housing, good schools and a new office with many benefits. RELATED: Ron DeSantis Spokesman Claims Disney Ditched Florida Relocation Plan Due To Cash Flow Problems & Struggling Stock De La Cruz and Fong say they gave up their California residences in 2022 and bought new homes in Orlando, where home prices had actually increased due to the new Disney facility.
The project was canceled in 2023 amid “considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project,” Disney Parks chief Josh D’Amaro said at the time.
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