May 6, 2005
Disney Sued for Gender-Discriminating Bird

On May 5, when Disneyland was celebrating the beginning of its 50th anniversary festivities, a $12 million sexual harassment civil lawsuit was filed against the park in Los Angeles court by former cast member Warren Fay. Claiming a hostile work environment, Fay says that he repeatedly endured gender-based insults by a bird in the Enchanted Tiki Room and that managers took no action and told jokes at his expense when informed.

"I had always wanted to work in the Tiki Room, ever since I was a little boy," says Fay. "It was like a dream come true when I got the position. And then, from day one, that damned José was on my case."

Fay's difficulties -- which he claims include damaged self esteem, nightmares, and "certain social problems" -- stem from the fact that the animatronic bird always referred to him as Señorita, no matter how many times he tried to correct it. "It got so that I was starting to question myself," says Fay. "I mean, if this computer-operated super bird thinks I'm a woman, and he's just been through a massive upgrade, so who knows? It's really bothering me." Fay was released from Disneyland employment when he ended a Tiki Room show prematurely by punching the bird in the beak.

In a parallel suit, Fay's girlfriend is suing the company for $5 million, claiming loss of her boyfriend's affections.

According to Rudy Plumagé, head Imagineer for the recent Enchanted Tiki Room refurbishment, the suit is without merit. "It's true that in the attraction's soundtrack José calls the human who starts the show 'señorita,' but in response to the complaints of Warren and some other cast members, we added a little switch that cuts out the final syllable of the word when activated before the show starts. It makes 'señor' sound a little clipped, and it throws the timing of the entire rest of the show of by about a quarter of a second, but we thought it did the job. The problem is, Warren said that wasn't enough. He complained that the damage was done and that we had never asked José to apologize for misidentifying Warren's gender. It's true that we didn't ask the bird to try and make up for its 'mistake,' but it's also true that we don't ask a door to apologize when it closes too fast and hits us on the backside."

Disneyland has endured a spate of gender-discrimination-based legal problems of late, including multimillion-dollar suits launched by:

• A woman who felt marginalized when the animatronic Abraham Lincoln referred to American soldiers as men, specifically ignoring the important role women played in the Civil War (the figure has since been removed),
• A woman with red hair who says she feared for her virtue and began having horrible panic attacks when a Pirates of the Caribbean pirate called out "We wants the redhead!" as the boat she was in floated past, and
• A woman who claims that she was violated when near the end of her ride on the Haunted Mansion a male ghost sat on her lap uninvited and grinned.

Asked why there have been so many gender-based problems in the park over recent months, a company spokesperson said, "The whole situation's ridiculous. Audioanimatronics don't harass people, people harass people, and they don't do it here."