Experts predict legal action after Disney alligator attack
Legal experts in the US believe Disney is likely to try to settle quietly with the family of the boy who was snatched by an alligator at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
The 2-year-old was wading in shallow water on a beach at the resort during its popular movie night when he was dragged into the water by an alligator.
His body was found the following day.
Although no lawsuit has been filed, Judge Andrew Napolitano, judicial analyst for Fox News, told the news station Disney would do anything to avoid litigation.
"When you invite someone onto your property for the purpose of conducting a commercial transaction with you, you – the property occupier – have the highest duty of care to that person under the law," he said.
"That means to warn them about all known or likely dangers and to protect them for all known or knowable dangers."
Speaking to Fox News, Napolitano said Disney’s insurance carrier will be ‘on the hook’.
"The insurance carrier will inspect the land and probably order changes before the litigation ever happens," he said.
"If Disney is self-insured, then their own internal people are going to say, ‘We have to fix this right away because we have a death problem, an image problem and soon a market share problem if people are afraid to come to our hotels’."
Experts say the question is focused on whether ‘no swimming’ signs placed around the Seven Seas Lagoon were enough of a warning to guests, or whether Disney should have specifically warned about the dangers of alligators.
They say the lack of warning and mechanisms in place to keep alligators away from guests could create enormous liability.
Police dealing with the incident on Tuesday said there has never been a case like it in Disney’s 45 years in Orlando.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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