A wrongful death lawsuit against Disney has been voluntarily dismissed by the widower of a Carle Place doctor who died in 2023 following a severe allergic reaction at a Disney Springs restaurant in Florida.
Records indicate that Jeffrey Piccolo, of Plainview, dropped the suit against Disney’s Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, which he filed on behalf of his late wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, alleging negligence.
A court filing dated Feb. 27 formally stipulated Piccolo’s voluntary dismissal of the case, signaling that a private financial settlement might have been reached, though this is unconfirmed.
Disney reportedly sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing in an Orange County Circuit Court that a legal clause, which Piccolo agreed to years ago when signing up for a one-month trial of the Disney+ streaming service, required all disputes with the company to be settled through arbitration.
After weeks of negative media coverage over Disney’s attempt to force the case to arbitration, however, Disney reversed course and allowed the wrongful death lawsuit to move forward.
Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist at NYU Langone’s Carle Place office specializing in sleep apnea and diabetes, dined at Raglan Road with her husband and mother-in-law on Oct. 5, 2023, according to records.
The lawsuit states that Tangsuan, who was 42, informed the servers of her severe peanut and dairy allergies multiple times before ordering. The family was allegedly “unequivocally assured” by the staff that her meal would be “allergen-free,” according to the lawsuit.
Tangsuan ultimately ordered a meal consisting of a broccoli and corn fritter, scallops, onion rings, and vegan Shepherd’s pie, the family said.
When the server returned with Tangsuan’s food, some items lacked allergen-free flags, and Tangsuan and Jeffrey Piccolo again questioned the server, who once again assured them the food was allergen-free, the suit said.
After dinner, Tangsuan experienced breathing difficulties, the suit said, and died shortly afterward at a hospital.
Litigation documents indicate that a medical examiner concluded her death was caused by anaphylaxis, resulting from high levels of dairy and nuts found in her system.
As part of the suit, Piccolo’s attorneys reportedly requested documents from the restaurant showing the recipes and ingredients for all food or drink items they were served.
In February 2024, Piccolo filed the suit against Disney and the restaurant, seeking damages exceeding $50,000 under Florida’s wrongful death act.
The damages were being sought to cover mental pain and suffering, loss of income and companionship, and medical and funeral expenses. Piccolo’s attorneys allegedly requested documentation from the restaurant on the recipes and ingredients for all food and drink items served to Piccolo and Tangsuan.
According to court filings, an independent laboratory tested the leftovers of Tangsuan’s meal for nut and dairy allergens last year. Her husband had apparently kept the leftovers frozen following her death.
Piccolo’s attorneys contested Disney’s request to have the laboratory results designated as confidential.
“It is unclear what good faith basis Disney has to designate the results of the food testing as confidential, which would keep the results shrouded in secrecy,” Piccolo attorney Brian Denney wrote in an Oct. 20 court filing.
Denney’s filing asserted that Raglan Road had a history of improperly serving meals containing allergens to customers with disclosed allergies, noting five such incidents in the three years preceding Tangsuan’s death.
“One such meal occurred only a month before our incident, when the restaurant served food containing allergens to a customer with a disclosed allergy,” Denney wrote.
The unexplained cancellation of two depositions for potential witnesses late last year indicated that a settlement in the case might be imminent.
