Marriott Chief Executive, Arne Sorenson, died on Tuesday, February 16, at 62 years of age from pancreatic cancer. Sorenson was a tourism industry leader to say the least, as he was known for growing the Marriott company into the world’s largest hotel chain. Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, took to Twitter to share his condolences.
As shared via Disney Parks New Twitter: “A message from Josh D’Amaro on the passing of Arne Sorenson::
As shared by CBSNews: “Arne was an exceptional executive – but more than that – he was an exceptional human being,” said Marriott in a prepared statement Tuesday.
Sandra Kuba, a former Walt Disney Company senior financial analyst who had previously filed complaints about the company to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is now suing the Walt Disney Company.
Kuba has filed a federal lawsuit against Burbank, California-based Disney Financial Services on Tuesday on accusations that she was fired after she raised red flags on the company’s accounting practices. In the lawsuit, Kuba seeks unspecified damages, including back pay and attorney’s fees, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Kuba previously filed a series of complaints to the SEC as well as a whistleblower-retaliation complaint with the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Disney claims that Kuba was fired because “she displayed a pattern of workplace complaints against co-workers without a reasonable basis for doing so, in a manner that was inappropriate, disruptive and in bad faith.”
The new federal lawsuit reveals that Kuba believed Disney was manipulating its books. Kuba said she noticed revenue reported several times for the same transaction and “nonsense entries that camouflaged the altered transactions flow created by Financial Systems.” The department that runs Disney’s internal control and fraud investigation added more “guest inconvenience promotion charge codes” instead of auditing the figures, which resulted in recorded revenue that did not exist and needed to be reversed,” Kuba said in the lawsuit.
“On a number of occasions throughout her career, (Kuba) reported her concerns about Disney’s policies, practices, and procedures that she genuinely and reasonably believed were unethical, improper or illegal to Disney’s management,” the lawsuit states. “Each time, (Kuba) suffered from harassment, hostility, and retaliation as a result.”
Kuba filed the SEC whistleblower complaint in August 2017, while she was out on medical leave. When she returned back to work the following month, she was fired. She then filed a Human Resources retaliation complaint with the company.
Kuba believes that “Disney terminated her employment as a direct result of both her internal complaints and her SEC whistleblower complaint,” per the lawsuit. “Throughout her employment at Disney, (Kuba) worked incredibly hard and consistently received positive performance reviews.”
However, a Disney spokesperson told MarketWatch in 2019 that “the claims presented to us by this former employee — who was terminated for cause in 2017 — have been thoroughly reviewed by the company and found to be utterly without merit; in fact, in 2018 she withdrew the claim she had filed challenging her termination. We’re not going to dignify her unsubstantiated assertions with further comment.” The spokesperson at the time also claimed that Kuba’s recent claim is “utterly without merit.”
The Walt Disney Company has called the new lawsuit “meritless” and plans to fight it in court.
As previously shared, Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, issued a statement regarding US Capitol January 6, 2021 events. Now, the Walt Disney Company is halting political contributions to lawmakers who voted to reject certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden.
As shared by Deadline: The Walt Disney Co. is halting political contributions to House and Senate lawmakers who voted to reject the certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden.
A Disney spokesperson said, “The insurrection at our nation’s Capitol was a direct assault on one of our country’s most revered tenets: the peaceful transition of power. In the immediate aftermath of that appalling siege, Members of Congress had an opportunity to unite—an opportunity that some sadly refused to embrace. In light of these events, we have decided we will not make political contributions in 2021 to lawmakers who voted to reject the certification of the Electoral College votes.”
With Disneyland in California remaining closed since March 14, it looks like The Walt Disney Co. is rethinking some California operations, with the possibility of moving some operations to the Orlando area, near Walt Disney World.
As shared by BizJournals: “The Walt Disney Co., owner and operator of Walt Disney World and the largest employer in Central Florida, is in talks to relocate some of its office divisions from its headquarters in California to Lake Nona, a master-planned community in southeast Orlando, Orlando Business Journal has learned.”
According to the exclusive with BizJournals, a Disney spokesperson has reportedly confirmed that talks are in place by saying “nothing was concrete” at this time but Disney is “always exploring opportunities for additional locations within the vicinity of our theme park”.
While what operations Disney may move remains unknown, we do know that with the pandemic restrictions set in place by the State of California and Governor Gavin Newsom, it seems like there is no reopening date in the near future for Disneyland. Disney’s frustration with the closure has been notable, as Florida’s Walt Disney World reopened with CDC guidelines back in July 2020.
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about this potential shift in operations. In the meantime, our fingers are crossed for all the west coast Disney fans and Cast Members that Disneyland can reopen safety soon enough.
