Michigan family sues Disney theme parks, alleges ex-employee filmed up teen girl's dress in Florida
A Michigan family has filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc. of Florida and a former employee, who is accused of filming up the dress of an underage female guest and, according to investigators, had hundreds of similar photos and videos on his phone.
The lawsuit claims the minor was a resident of Commerce Township, Michigan, when the alleged incident happened on March 30, 2023, during a family visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios Theme Park in Orlando, Florida.
The family is seeking damages of at least $50,000 in the case filed on March 21 in Orange County, Florida, in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court.
The employee named in the case is Jorge Diaz Vega, 28, of Kissimmee, Florida.
The lawsuit claims that Diaz Vega, who worked at Disney's Hollywood Studios Theme Park in Orlando, was in his Disney employee uniform when he approached the underage girl at a "Star Wars"-themed retail store. She was visiting the park that day with a sibling and a grandparent.
Diaz Vega allegedly picked up a toy to show the girl and sibling how to use it, and was holding another toy in his armpit, "which he intentionally dropped on the floor."
The suit says Diaz Vega then "bent down to pick up the toy he had intentionally dropped and in doing so he reached his arm under the dress of the plaintiff's minor grandchild while holding an electronic recording device with the lens facing upward and he took photographic and/or videographic images up the dress of the plaintiff's minor grandchild without the child's knowledge or consent."
Upon realizing that she was filmed or photographed, "the plaintiff's minor grandchild began hysterically crying and screaming, and the child ran into a nearby restroom and began dry-heaving, vomiting and suffered a panic attack," the lawsuit states.
In response to the situation, the lawsuit claimed, the adult relative notified Disney security, who then contacted the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The lawsuit claims that Disney, through its employees or agents, "knew or should have known" that Diaz Vega had a history of similar acts of voyeurism over the six years he worked for the company, citing hundreds of images and videos that investigators say were found on his phone.
According to a March 31, 2023, criminal complaint filed in Orange County, Diaz Vega "admitted he has been taking videos up the dresses/skirts of unknown females in the Disney World theme parks for approximately six years," adding he "estimated he had over 500 videos on his phone."
According to the criminal complaint, he specifically admitted to investigators that he took videos of multiple females on March 31, 2023. One of those individuals was an 18-year-old woman who learned from a security officer that she might have been a witness or victim of such activity.
Court records show Diaz Vega was booked in August 2023 in Orange County, Florida, on multiple counts, including video voyeurism under or through clothes with a victim younger than 19. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer is seeking a competency hearing.
CBS News Detroit has reached out to the family's attorney for comment.
