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Kanokporn Tangsuan, who grew up on Long Island in Bellerose and practiced family medicine at NYU Langone Hospital in Mineola, died at the age of 42 on Oct. 5, 2023 while on a family vacation to Disney World.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, the couple decided to eat dinner at the park’s Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant.
They repeatedly warned their waiter that Tangsuan was severely allergic to dairy and nuts and were assured that their food would be allergen free, the lawsuit claims.
However, when their food arrived several items were missing allergen free flags. The couple once again questioned their waiter, who again guaranteed that the food was safe.
After dinner, Tangsuan went shopping with her mother-in-law while Piccolo returned to their hotel room with their leftover food. While inside Planet Hollywood, she began having trouble breathing and collapsed to the floor.
Tangsuan was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy concluded she had died from anaphylaxis after eating elevated levels of dairy and nuts.
Piccolo’s lawsuit, filed in Orange County, Florida, in February 2024, accused Disney of negligence, arguing the family “relied upon the Disney and/or Raglan Road’s employees’… guarantee that the food served to Tangsuan… was allergen free.”
Lawyers for Disney asked an Orange County judge to stop the lawsuit, arguing that Piccolo gave up his right to sue the company when he signed up for a Disney+ streaming account in 2019.
Disney’s terms of service, which all users must agree to, state that users agree to settle any lawsuits against the company out of court, through arbitration.
“Piccolo ignores that he previously created a Disney account and agreed to arbitrate ‘all disputes’ against ‘The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates’ arising ‘in contract, tort, warranty, statute, regulation, or other legal or equitable basis,’” the company said in a court filing.
“This broad language covers Piccolo’s claims against (Disney). Because the parties agreed to arbitrate these claims, the Court should compel arbitration and stay the proceedings.”
Piccolo’s attorneys blasted Disney's argument as “fatally flawed” and urged the judge to deny the motion in a filing on Friday, Aug. 2. They pointed out that the lawsuit is being brought by Tangsuan’s estate, not Piccolo himself.
“In its Motion, (Disney)... improperly attempts to negate this distinction by making the preposterous argument that when Jeffrey Piccolo, individually, allegedly signed himself up for a free trial of Disney+ back in 2019 or bought Epcot tickets in 2023, he somehow bound the non-existent Estate of Kanokporn Tangsuan (his wife, who was alive at both times) to an arbitration agreement buried within certain terms and conditions,” they said.
Piccolo’s lawyers went on to decry Disney’s tactics as bordering “on the surreal.”
“Even if the Court were to consider the substantive part of (Disney’s) untimely Motion, it is based on the incredible argument that any person who signs up for a Disney+ account, even free trials that are not extended beyond the trial period, will have forever waived the right to a jury trial enjoyed by them and any future Estate to which they are associated…including personal injury and wrongful death claims.”
Piccolo is seeking damages of more than $50,000 under Florida's Wrongful Death Act.
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