Looks like Disney has realised that blocking a wrongful death lawsuit because of the Disney+ terms of service wasn’t the greatest PR move in the world, and have now decided to allow the matter to proceed in court following immense backlash against the company.

Jeffrey J. Piccolo is suing Disney after his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died from an allergic reaction at a Disney Springs restaurant despite informing the waiter of her severe allergy.

Disney initially argued in court documents that the widower’s Disney+ streaming service contract meant he could not sue for the wrongful death of his wife, and tried to get the lawsuit tossed out of court.

Disney’s argument was that Piccolo had entered into a subscriber agreement when signing up for a Disney+ trial years ago – which requires users to arbitrate all disputes with the company. Meaning the case would not go before a jury or continue in court.

But after a whole bunch of articles and social media posts slamming Disney over the move; Josh D’Amaro, the chairman of Disney Experiences, put out this statement:

“At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations. With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” he said in the statement.

“As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”

And so, all it took for Disney to do a complete 180 on one of the most ill-advised legal arguments of all time was a full week of getting slated online and in the press for trying to screw over a grieving widower to save money that basically amounts to pocket change for them.

All Mr. Piccolo had asked for was $50,000 – that’s it! They could have literally given him that cash without the Disney accountants even noticing.

Obviously it’s great that Disney has seen the error of their ways and that Mr. Piccolo will now get paid either in the lawsuit or through a settlement – and most likely way more than he was suing for to begin with – but it’s still shocking that it had to get dragged on this far for Disney to do the right thing. Imagine if all this went down in the days before the internet? This guy would have been completely and unjustly screwed over by Disney, even though their staff was blatantly responsible for the death of his wife.

Here’s hoping Piccolo now gets 100x what he was asking for initially, which I’m sure he could do by arguing that they’ve inflicted all this extra emotional damage to him by trying to get the lawsuit canned and making him re-live the whole experience. Might even end up with a few million by the time this is all over.

Also good to know that whatever ridiculous sh1t we’ve all agreed to in the small print of contracts with Disney or any other company isn’t necessarily enforceable when it comes to situations like this.

For the plus-size model who says her trip to Disney Land was ruined because people wouldn’t stop staring at her, click HERE.