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Ex-Worker Sues Disney Over Firing
She claims she lost her job because she could have testified about ride safety
Monday, June 24, 2002
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
The Associated Press
ORLANDO -- Nikki Mooney was an operator on the Spaceship Earth ride at Walt Disney World's Epcot park in August 1999 when a 5-year-old boy tore up his leg after falling out of his seat.
Five months later, Disney fired Mooney, saying she had lied on forms that allowed her to take unpaid time off with her family under federal law.
Mooney, who she said had warned supervisors about safety problems with the ride before the accident, claims she was dismissed when the entertainment giant learned the boy's family planned to sue.
Now Mooney is suing Disney, claiming she lost her job because she could have testified about her concerns about Spaceship Earth. She also claims Disney uses the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to fire workers who pose a threat to the company's bottom line.
Disney officials adamantly deny Mooney's claims and say there's no factual basis for her lawsuit.
They say Mooney's firing had nothing to do with the threat of a lawsuit by the little boy's family and that she had already lost a union grievance she pursued after being fired.
"The allegations are outrageous and absolutely false," Disney spokesman Bill Warren said.
Company official also deny they misuse the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows workers three months of unpaid leave a year to care for a sick relative, or for a birth or an adoption, to protect Disney's financial interests.
Disney employs about 54,000 workers in Orlando, and hundreds of them take leave each year under the federal law, spokeswoman Marilyn Waters said.
Ben Ramirez, spokesman for the union that represented Mooney in her unsuccessful grievance, said he knew of no cases in which Disney had used the federal law to get rid of workers. The union represents ride operators and ticket takers at the parks.
But Ramirez said Disney supervisors are often ignorant of the law, even though company officials say training on it is included in employee orientation.
"The company's not good about educating the workers that it's there," he said.
Mooney, 34, worked at Disney World for 12 years. In 1999, her ex-husband died of complications from AIDS and she assumed custody of their two children.
Mooney said she took medical leave, at the recommendation of her supervisors, to care for her children.
Forms were mailed to the doctor, who filled them in and sent them back to the company several weeks before Mooney's ex-husband died. Mooney said she never saw the forms before they were submitted to Disney.
Somewhere along the way, someone wrote incorrectly on the forms "husband" next to her ex-husband's name, she said.
"It's in a different handwriting than what is on the application," said J. David Pobjecky, Mooney's attorney. "It's not in the nurse's writing."
Mooney filed a grievance trying to get her job back.
During her grievance hearing in March 2000, Mooney's supervisors argued she told them that she was caring for her husband, not her children, records show.
Union officials argued that Mooney intended to take the leave to care for her children but she was not aware of how the policy worked. A panel made up of a Disney executive and a representative from another union ruled against her.
"Our company has always taken a strong stance against falsification of company documents, including reasons for medical leave," Warren said.
There were more twists to Mooney's story.
A few months after she was fired, Mooney's preteen daughter cut her arms with a sharp object in an act of self-mutilation.
Someone got a hold of pictures of the injury and sent them to Mooney's former supervisor at Disney with a note that said, "I thought you might like to see what has happened to my daughter since the company has declared that I am fabricating this whole story."
Mooney has denied sending the photos.
Disney officials notified the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Mooney was investigated for child abuse, and no charges were brought, according to the lawsuit.
At the time, Mooney was studying to be a teacher at the University of Central Florida. She said in her suit that she cannot earn a teaching certificate because of the charges, although a state Department of Education spokeswoman said the agency evaluates such situations on a case-by-case basis.
Mooney currently works as a cashier at Target department store and at United Parcel Service.
She sued Disney in state and federal courts in Orlando within the past month. The suits accuse the company of denying her employment rights, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional duress and slander. She is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages.
By firing her, Mooney claims, Disney could portray her as a disgruntled former employee if the case went to trial.
Disney settled the lawsuit filed by the family of the injured boy, Austin Delgado, earlier this year, a week before it was scheduled to go to trial in Orlando.
Under a confidential agreement, terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Since the accident, Disney has installed systems that alert operators if a passenger has gotten out of a seat on Spaceship Earth and other rides, and it has posted signs warning passengers not to get out of their seats, Disney spokeswoman Marilyn Waters said.
The changes were part of ongoing safety enhancements and were not related to the accident, she said.
