Tigger Bounces Back from Punching Accusation
(Another early pre-post due to earache, family visiting, and a possibly long day away from home. I know how you cannot live without your daily Roost rations! ~.^)
Back on January 6th of this year, a beloved childhood icon was accused of pugilistic pawing of a 14-year-old boy in Disney World's MGM Studio Theme Park. The incident was captured on video and rocketed into the national spotlight on news stations, Internet sites, and blogs ... including mine.
Disney had suspended Michael J. Fedelem, the man inside the Tigger suit, pending an investigation of the incident by the Osceola County Sheriff's Department.
The investigation is done, and the State Attorney's Office in Orlando has decided that Tigger is not criminally liable for what occurred. No criminal charges will be filed against Fedelem. The DA stated to a local Orlando news station "The family didn't react like they wanted justice, they reacted like they wanted cash."
No word yet on whether Tigger can bounce back to work at Disney.
This makes me so happy to hear. Anyone who reviewed the video could plainly see Tigger was provoked or that the "head punch" was entirely unintentional. Score one for the Florida State Attorney's Office and the little guy!
Of course, this does not mean Jerry Monaco, Sr., the man who shot the video and whose son was involved, will not file a civil complaint against Tigger, or Disney. One source states "the Monaco family is asking for unspecified money damages from Disney." Previously I had felt any lawsuit filed by the Monaco's would win. Now, I'm not so certain. No clear word on whether any further legal action will be taken by the Monaco's ... other than to change their names for trying to weasel money out of a false accusation of a well-loved American icon. ~.^
The same source cited above, as well as two others, cite Disney's employee union representative Donna Lyne Dalton saying Jerry, Jr. was agitating Tigger by pulling the back of the costume and cutting off air supply and that restricted peripheral vision didn't allow him to see where his "paw" was going when he swung around. A transcript from an unedited and longer version of the video, shows Jerry, Sr. may have taunted Tigger a little and that both a woman and Jerry, Sr. told Jerry, Jr. to stop "crowding" Tigger. Another source claims "the full-length video shows Junior pulling on the Tigger costume's tail, thus blocking proper air flow" and " earlier in the clip, Senior is heard mocking the character, sarcastically apologising for supposedly sitting on its head."
We'll wait and see. When I find more out, it'll be posted.
Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 48 days is:
Labels:
General Musings,
Update,
WTF News
2 comments:
Frivolous lawsuits are a big part of what is ruining our economy. For crying out loud, even if it was intentional, ole Tigg didn't hit the kid hard enough to do any kind of damage. Maybe he should have hit the Dad.
Hey, Bruiser, I was still editing the post when you posted your comment. You may have missed some further information I added in shortly after.
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