Question. Could Disney be held legally liable if someone caught the virus from their parks? As in, they had large outbreaks in the area of the parks, CM's had tested positive, and they chose to NOT close the parks and/ or ignored pressing data that was leading one to believe that they were knowingly putting guests at risk of illness. Thoughts? Just something I have been pondering as I watch/ read the news. I also wonder if an organization who held a large sporting event/ conference could be held liable if there turned out to be an outbreak associated with that event.
Other will be negligence, that Disney willfully worked CM who are sick or let visitors in who showed symptoms into the park.
The legal standard for a negligence claim would be 1) Disney has a duty of care to their guests, 2) Disney has breached that duty of care, and 3) that breach of care caused damages to their guests. There is no intentionality to this.
Lets look at each of these in turn...
1. Disney has a duty of care to their guests - under Florida law, a theme park or hotel guest is considered an invitee, which means they owe the highest duty of care. Specifically, they must
(1) to use reasonable care in maintaining the premises in a reasonably safe condition, AND (2) to give the invitee warning of concealed perils which are or should be known to the landowner, and which are unknown to the invitee and cannot be discovered by him through the exercise of due care. Must an area be caronavirus free to be deemed reasonably safe? What would constitute reasonable care in keeping it caronavirus free? These would be jury questions. Depending on the facts, Disney would want NO PART of that (especially the news headlines of guests suing for caronavirus infections).
2. Disney has breached that duty of care - this is also a fact question for a jury and would depend on the extent of the spread of the virus, and what actions Disney has taken to protect their paying customers. Again, Disney would want no part of a jury ruling on this, and more importantly, they would want no part of media coverage of this trial either.
3) that breach of care caused damages to their guests - this one is actually harder. You would have to prove that you got the virus from Disney World, and not from the airport, or from work the week before. If it was really that widespread, this would severely weaken the case.
Now, given all these factors, you would have to look at the comparative negligence of the guest. Florida state law is whats called a "comparative negligence" jurisdiction, which means, if a jury found that your damages were $100, but you licking the lampposts caused you to be 50% responsible for your own damages, your recovery would be reduced by that much. With so little (relatively) known about the transmission rates and process, it is difficult to say whether there would need to be significant contributory negligence to catch this. Time will tell, but again - Disney wouldnt want to be that guinea pig, nor would it want the headlines from that trial.
In short, a claim against Disney would likely have some merit to it. It would get you in front of a jury, which is what all deep pocketed defendants dont want. Plus, the sheer number of exposed guests with a claim would make it seem prohibitive to risk that.
If this thing continues, my best guess is that from a legal liability standpoint, Disney World will shutter for a time. Rest assured it will reopen, but they would have a serious financial interest in doing everything possible to keep potential guests from contracting caronavirus in their parks and resorts.
Anyone more versed on Florida personal injury law, feel free to shred this apart.