Disney Becomes a Target

A Ms. Joanna Boey from Singapore is suing the Disney Company in the U.S. for negligence in the death of her mother last September during a visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. I’ll skip the details except that Disney said their people acted appropriately and Ms. Boey says they didn’t. Oh, by the way, Ms. Boey’s mother had a congestive heart condition.

The politicians immediately jumped on the bandwagon to suggest that an inquest should be held and Disney’s emergency procedures evaluated. A reporter from the South China Morning Post interviewed a local heart specialist who announced that speed is important in treating heart attack victims…Duh!

Should Disneyland review its emergency procedures?

The short and easy answer is, “Of course.”

However, if you think about it, why is the government waiting five months and an egregious lawsuit in the U.S. to review the procedures? It’s most likely because there was no reason to do so when the woman died in September of congestive heart failure, a terminal condition.

Here are some questions that make me think that the whole issue is one of economics not grief for a dead parent and certainly not the safety of visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland.

Why did Ms. Boey wait five months to file her complaint?

Why is Ms. Boey filing her complaint in the United States, the most litigious society on the planet and not in Hong Kong where the event happened?

Why is she trying to turn it into a class action suit?

What was Ms. Boey thinking when she took her 82 year old mother, suffering with a congestive heart condition to Disneyland in the September heat?

It appears to me that an ambulance chasing lawyer in the U.S. got to her and convinced her she could make big bucks by suing Disney.

It almost makes me feel sorry for the Disney Company?