You likely know John Morgan from billboards across Florida or from his commercials featuring the popular tagline “For The People.”
You may not know that Morgan actually got his start in law following what he calls an “ugly legal battle” with Disney that involved his brother Tim.
“He was paralyzed out at Disney World and he was paralyzed on the water,” Morgan said.
Morgan said his brother was not adequately compensated due to the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which happens to be locked in a political battle that could cause Disney to lose its special governing authority.
“The reason that his case, that he could never sue Disney World is because Reedy Creek was owned by Disney, so that was his employer and they had comp immunity so that Tim was never able to bring a lawsuit,” Morgan said.
Morgan said the whole experience was a nightmare,
“Disney treated Tim terribly,” he said. “They just fought him like he was a combatant enemy, even on his comp benefits and I was 19. We were poor as hell, and here we were with my brother a C6, C7 quadriplegic with this gigantic company. And, then they finally said to him they said ‘Well we will put you back to work,’ so they could get out of paying him benefits. They said ‘We will make you an operator from 11 at night until 7 in the morning.’”
This experience steered Morgan’s career.
“When Disney was messing with Tim, I became as mad at Disney as Ron Desantis is at Disney and that was — those moments in my life — was my inspiration for becoming a personal injury lawyer. I said then and there that my life’s work was going to be representing people who were powerless, hopeless and helpless against big corporations like Walt Disney World. That’s all I’ve ever done. I’ve never applied for a job anywhere else. Everybody that knows my story knows this is the story. So, it’s been interesting to hear Reedy Creek’s name come up after all those years after Tim was hurt in 1977.”
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