Disney: Doctor LI Kanokporn’s Wrongful Death Lawsuit Tangsuan’s Widower Does Not Have to Go to Arbitration

A Disney executive said the company will reverse its position that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widower of a Carle Place doctor should go to arbitration because of a provision in the plaintiff’s contract for the Disney+ streaming service.

Plainview resident Jeffrey Piccolo sued the company earlier this year after he claimed his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, 42, died of a fatal allergic reaction after dining at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant in Disney Springs in October.

“At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations,” Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro said in a statement. “In circumstances as unique as this one, we believe this situation requires a sensitive approach to expedite resolution for a family that has experienced such a devastating loss. As such, we have decided to waive our right to arbitration and proceed to court.”

Piccolo and his attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Disney owns the premises in which the restaurant is located and leases it to Raglan Road, another defendant in the dispute.

In a motion filed on May 31, Disney asked a Florida court to dismiss Piccolo’s lawsuit because the widower had signed up for a one-month trial of the Disney+ streaming service three years earlier.

Disney’s attorneys wrote that the subscriber agreement states that all disputes, except for small claims, “must be resolved through individual binding arbitration.” They also claimed that Piccolo agreed to similar language when he used the Disney app to purchase tickets to Epcot.

In an August 2 response, Piccolo’s lawyers called Disney’s motion “absurd” and added that it was “absurd” to claim that the popular streaming service’s 153 million subscribers had waived all claims against the company and its affiliates because of language “hidden” in the terms and conditions.

Disney said Piccolo created an account with Disney by signing up for a Disney+ trial account on his PlayStation in 2019, and in September 2023, he used his account on the “My Disney Experience” app to buy tickets to Epcot. Tangsuan died before they could use the tickets.

In both cases, Disney says, Piccolo was notified that by clicking “I agree and continue,” he was accepting the company’s “subscriber agreement,” which includes an arbitration provision.

Arbitration means that cases are decided by an arbitrator rather than a judge.

The lawsuit says Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist at NYU Langone’s Carle Place practice, had lunch with her husband and mother-in-law on Raglan Road on Oct. 5.

The article said that before ordering, Tangsuan informed waiters several times about her severe allergies to peanuts and dairy, and that the staff “unequivocally assured them that the food would be allergen-free.”

Tangsuan ordered broccoli and corn fritters, scallops, onion rings and vegan shepherd’s pie, according to the lawsuit. It also says that shortly after dining out while shopping at Disney Springs, she began having severe difficulty breathing and self-administered an epi-pen before dying in the hospital a short time later.

According to the lawsuit, the medical examiner determined that the cause of her death was anaphylaxis caused by elevated levels of dairy and nuts in her body.

Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 in damages under Florida’s wrongful death statute, as well as damages for mental pain and suffering, loss of income and companionship, and medical and funeral costs.