Disney worker rips company over vow to pay abortion costs
A Florida Disney employee ripped the company’s campaign to cover abortion travel costs for workers, telling The Post on Saturday it’ll be bad for business and would “alienate” customers.
Jose Castillo, who works in resort management in Orlando, accused the Walt Disney Co. of trying to influence politics after wading into the fraught abortion issue in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Disney was among the big American names to speak out after the landmark abortion case was struck down Friday, vowing in an internal memo that they would reimburse employees who have to travel out-of-state to have the procedure carried out.
“Disney knew full well that this memo would be leaked and make national news,” Castillo, who is also a GOP FL-9 Congressional candidate, told The Post.
Get The Post’s latest updates following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“They sent it anyway because Disney wants to make a political statement and attempt, once more, to influence our country’s political process.”
Disney is also embroiled in an ongoing battle with Republican-dominated Florida and its Gov. Ron DeSantis over the company’s opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
“This is yet another attempt by Disney to take a political stance that will inevitably alienate potential customers,” Castillo said.
“As we have seen in recent months Disney’s political activism has hurt the company financially and it is my belief that the Board of Directors is violating it’s fiduciary duty to shareholders by continuing to comment on divisive political matters.”
Disney joined the likes of Facebook parent Meta, American Express, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Apple, Starbucks and Lyft in taking similar action after Friday’s ruling.
While some of the wokest companies in the US took a stance, a number of others opted to remain silent.
McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Tyson and Marriott chose not to comment.
And Arkansas-based Walmart — the nation’s largest employer with a number of stores in states that will immediately trigger abortion bans — also stayed quiet.
Maurice Schweitzer, a University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business professor, said the handful of companies taking a stand on the court’s ruling are doing so because customers and employees are expecting them to speak out.
“We’re in this moment in time where we’re expecting corporate leaders to also be leaders in the political sphere,” he said. “A lot of employees expect to work in companies that not only pay them well, but whose values are aligned with theirs.”
But the vast majority of big name executives will likely avoid the thorny topic altogether — which also poses its own risks, he added.
“They can either support travel for out-of-state care and risk lawsuits and the ire of local politicians, or they can not include this coverage and risk the ire of employees,” Schweitzer said.
With Post wires
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