Lawyers for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and other defendants filed a motion on Monday to dismiss the lawsuit Disney filed in a federal district court.
Disney filed the lawsuit in April against DeSantis and other Florida officials in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, alleging a "relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials."
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In the court filing on Monday, the defendants argued that both DeSantis and acting Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Meredith Ivey are immune from the lawsuit brought by Disney.
"The Court lacks jurisdiction over at least two defendants—the Governor and the Secretary—who are also immune from suit. Although Disney has grabbed headlines by suing the Governor, Disney—like many litigants before it who have challenged Florida’s laws —has no basis for doing so. Neither the Governor nor the Secretary enforce any of the laws at issue, so Disney lacks standing to sue them," the filing said.
The defendants also argued that Disney cannot show how its alleged harms, based on the alleged contracts, takings, due process, or First Amendment violations, can be "traceable" or remedied by DeSantis or Ivey.
"As with its contract claims, Disney cannot show that those alleged harms are traceable to, or redressable by, the State Defendants," the filing said.
The defendants also argue in the motion to dismiss that DeSantis and Ivey have sovereign immunity, while DeSantis also has legislative immunity from being sued for signing the laws which restructured Disney's central Florida district.
Disney has until July 26 to file a response to the defendants' motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by Disney in April after the DeSantis-appointed board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which governs the Walt Disney World Resort, unanimously approved a resolution to declare an agreement designed to undercut the new board's power as void.
DeSantis had restructured the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District to be under increased state oversight with legislation he signed in February. Disney had maintained autonomy over the district, which encompasses its Florida resort, since 1967.
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The central Florida board has also filed a counterlawsuit against Disney in state court in response to the federal district court lawsuit. The first hearing for the state lawsuit is currently scheduled for July 14.
The feud between DeSantis and the company, which led to Disney's central Florida district being restructured, stemmed from Disney denouncing the Parental Rights in Education Act, which DeSantis signed into law last year.