The GigReporter

Legal remedies don’t exist for their own sake, but to serve the needs of people and businesses. Seeking maximal enforcement always may lead to public criticism and damage your goodwill, as Disney learned from trying to move a case into arbitration recently.[1]

In 2023 Kanokporn Tangsuan passed away, allegedly because of an allergic reaction to food from a Disney parks restaurant. After her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, Disney moved to compel arbitration, based partially on a mandatory arbitration agreement in the subscriber agreement for the streaming service Disney+, which Mr. Piccolo had agreed to years before when signing up for a free trial.

Setting aside the purely legal merits of the motion,[2] the effort to compel arbitration was widely mocked and condemned after it was publicized. Public pressure grew to the point where Disney decided to withdraw the motion, which may not be enough to reverse the bad publicity; a partner at Davis Goldman pointed out bad feelings toward the company could linger in the public consciousness even after the reason for it has been forgotten.

You should always consider the wider context and consequences of any legal action, especially how it will be perceived by your customers and business partners. If something would seem egregiously unfair, no matter how justified it really is, it might be better to not pursue it.