A fired Disney employee has been accused of hacking online menu systems used by Disney World restaurants and altering them to falsely indicate that certain dishes were safe for customers with peanut allergies.
Michael Scheuer, who worked as a “menu production manager” for Disney before being fired for misconduct in June, has been charged by federal prosecutors for logging into a proprietary menu creation software system used exclusively by Disney World restaurants in Florida. Was accused of using his work password to. According to a report.
news of Criminal complaint in the US Middle District of Floridawhich does not mention Disney’s name, was First reported by Court Watch And 404 media.
Scheuer’s attorney, David Haas, confirmed to The Post that his client was a Disney employee.
Haas told The Post that Scheuer was arrested last Thursday.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Election Day.
“It is acknowledged in the allegations that no one was injured or harmed. “I look forward to vigorously presenting my client’s side of the story,” Haas told The Post.
According to the federal complaint, Scheuer allegedly changed allergy information on the menu and added profanity.
According to the complaint, Disney intercepted the menus after they were printed but before they were distributed to Disney restaurants.
Haas told The Post that Scheuer “had a mental disability that caused him to have panic attacks when he was at work.”
“First, Disney suspended him and then it was changed to dismissal without explanation,” Haas said.
According to Haas, Disney did not respond when my client asked about the grounds for termination.
“Disney failed to respond to his inquiries about his termination and he then filed an EEOC complaint in response,” Haas said.
An EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) complaint is often a precursor to a discrimination lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that Scheuer used login credentials from his time at Disney to break into one of the menu maker’s servers.
Disney employees became aware of the hack when they noticed that all the fonts in the menu creation program had been changed to WingDings.
According to the complaint, “As a result of this change, all menus in the database became unusable as the font change spread throughout the database.”
Scheuer is also accused of hacking a separate server and digitally altering the QR code, redirecting diners to the boycott-israel.org website.
The complaint also alleges that Scheuer locked out at least 14 Disney employees from their Disney accounts by attempting to log into his company’s systems using incorrect passwords thousands of times.
“Most of the individuals targeted had some type of interaction with Scheuer at Disney or were considered high-level management,” the complaint alleged.
Scheuer is also accused of “targeting four other Disney employees with a DoS (denial of service) attack.”
Authorities alleged that Scheuer kept a folder containing the home addresses, phone numbers and personal information of relatives of four individuals.
Scheuer is accused of coming to the home of one of the victims on the night of Oct. 22, according to the complaint, which included photos taken by a Ring doorbell camera of a man identified as the defendant.
After Scheuer attended the home, the victim, who lived there, left the residence and stayed at a hotel.
The post sought comment from Disney.
Last October, Kanokporn Tangsuan, A doctor at New York University Langone hospital in Manhattan, was having dinner with her husband And mom at the Disney Springs restaurant.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Disney, Tangsuan had severe allergies for nuts and dairy products and informed the waiter at a Raglan Road Irish pub that he needed an “allergy free meal”.
According to the lawsuit, the couple inquired of the waiter about various items on the menu. The waiter then asked the chef, “Can some foods be made allergy free” before returning to the table and confirming.
Shortly after dinner, when Tangxuan entered Planet Hollywood, she had difficulty breathing and collapsed on the floor.
According to the lawsuit, the doctor died at the hospital.
The lawsuit states that a medical examiner’s investigation revealed that she died as a result of “anaphylaxis due to the elevated levels of dairy and walnuts in her system.”
Disney initially asked the Florida court To dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit On the basis that the victim’s family had signed up for its streaming service Disney+.
But Public reaction to this move Prompting the company’s lawyers to withdraw the request.
with post wire
