Millions of people from all over the world visit Walt Disney World every year and with that many people on property at any one time, accidents happen. For the most part these incidents go by unnoticed, unless they involve fire trucks on Main Street U.S.A. Every once in a while there’s a situation that results in a lawsuit, and sometimes, tragically, there are incidents that result in death. Now Disney World is dealing with a lawsuit over a death that occurred last year due to an injury allegedly received on resort property.
According to Florida Politics, travel agent Jessica Straub was at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort in December 2020 when she fell and hit her head. Straub died four days later, “due to blunt head trauma from falling at a standing height,” according to the medical examiner. A lawsuit against Disney World has now been filed by Justin Morrison, who was reported as the victim's brother, but is actually her cousin.
No documentation pertaining to the incident has been released by Disney World yet, so we have no other details regarding exactly what happened, but clearly Morrison believes the theme park resort is somehow liable in some aspect that led to the accident taking place or perhaps decisions made in the aftermath of it.
Lawsuits following accidents on Walt Disney World property are certainly not uncommon. A recent accident involving a Disney World Cast Member resulted in a significant OSHA fine. While such accidents are rare when you consider just how many people visit the resort, when they do happen often on attractions, there is usually a lawsuit involved. We rarely hear about such lawsuits going to court, however, so they are almost always settled out of court.
Death at Walt Disney World is a tough subject. There’s an often repeated claim that nobody has ever died at a Disney resort, and that the company will even go to extreme lengths to make that the case. While it does not appear this woman died on property, she died days after the fall, though the location is not clear, there have been deaths at Disney World at each one is terrible.
In December of last year it was revealed that a guest had a heart attack while at the Contemporary Resort. While that was a random event, it was no less tragic. At that time, it appeared that first responders at the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the municipal district that encompasses Walt Disney World, were short staffed, as the resort has been to some degree since reopening following the pandemic closure.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this to see if more details are publicly released that shed some light on why this accident necessitated a lawsuit. Although, as in most other cases this will likely see settlement before it ever sees a courtroom.
