Lawyers for the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District filed a motion asking a federal court to stay or dismiss Disney's lawsuit against the board and other Florida leaders.
The board, in a court filing late Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, argued that Disney's claims should be settled in state court or dismissed, dubbing the lawsuit "a host of baseless constitutional claims."
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"Disney's claims should either be held in abeyance and this case stayed pending resolution of state court litigation over the validity of the Development Agreement and Restrictive Covenants or dismissed," the filing said.
As part of the argument for a stay, the board claimed that "the validity and enforceability of the Development Agreement and Restrictive Covenants are indisputably 'unsettled question[s] of state law.'" The lawyers also argued that a ruling in the state court lawsuit between Disney and the board would significantly change the allegations Disney makes in the federal court lawsuit.
"If the state court concludes that the Development Agreement and Restrictive Covenants are void and unenforceable, then Disney’s Contracts Clause claim fails (because there was no contract); its Takings claim fails (because there was no property to be taken); and its Due Process Claim fails (because there was no property Disney was deprived of)," the filing said.
"In addition, as explained in more detail below, if the Development Agreement and Restrictive Covenants are void and unenforceable, then Defendants would have a complete defense to Disney’s First Amendment retaliation claims because Disney will have not suffered any adverse action sufficient to support such a claim," the filing added.
The lawyers for the board, which was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), also argued that the case should be dismissed in federal court under the legal doctrine forum non conveniens, which is when a court acknowledges a different court is more suitable to handle the dispute, with the state court being the better venue they are arguing for.
"The Court should dismiss the complaint under the doctrine of forum non conveniens because the Restrictive Covenant’s forum-selection clause permits suit only in Orange County state court," the filing said.
Lawyers for the board also argued that Disney has no claims under the contracts, takings, or due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, nor a claim of retaliation under the First Amendment.
The lawyers argued the agreement was found to be legally void, the "Development Agreement and Restrictive Covenants are not 'property' under the Fifth Amendment," and that Disney's due process rights were not violated. For the First Amendment claim, the board argued voiding Disney's agreement was "government speech and thus had no adverse effect on Disney."
In a filing earlier on Monday, DeSantis and acting Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Meredith Ivey argued that they are immune from the lawsuit in a motion to dismiss the legal action.
Disney has until July 26 to file a response to the defendants' motion to dismiss the lawsuit in federal court.
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 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. In a filing last week, lawyers for the board called Disney's motion to dismiss the state court lawsuit "classic imagineering" by the entertainment giant. The first hearing for the state lawsuit is 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.