Fired employee allegedly hacked into Disney World, Florida restaurant menus to change peanut allergy information

Michael Scheuer, who worked as a “menu production manager” for Disney before being fired in June for misconduct, was accused by federal prosecutors of using his work passwords to log into a proprietary menu creation software system used exclusively by Disney World restaurants in Florida, according to a report.

News of the criminal complaint in the U.S. Middle District of Florida, which does not name Disney, 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.

“The charges acknowledge that no one was harmed or injured. I look forward to powerfully presenting my client’s side of the story,” Haas told The Post.

According to the federal complaint, Scheuer allegedly changed the 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 a panic attack while he was at work.”

“First Disney suspended him and then it was changed to a termination without explanation,” Haas said.

Disney did not respond when my client inquired about the basis for the termination, Haas said.

“Disney did not respond to his questions about his termination and subsequently filed a complaint with the EEOC,” Haas said.

An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint is often a precursor to a discrimination lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that Scheuer used his login credentials from his time at Disney to break into one of the menu maker’s servers.

Disney employees became aware of the hack after noticing that all fonts in the menu builder program had been changed to wingdings.

“As a result of this change, all menus in the database were unusable as the font changes propagated through the database,” the complaint said.

Scheuer also allegedly hacked into a separate server and digitally altered the QR codes that directed diners to the website boycott-israel.org.

The complaint also alleged that Scheuer denied at least fourteen Disney employees access to their Disney accounts by repeatedly attempting to log into their corporate systems thousands of times with the wrong password.

“A large majority of the targeted individuals had some form of interaction with Scheuer or were considered senior management” at Disney, the complaint alleged.

Scheuer also allegedly targeted four other Disney employees in a “DoS (denial-of-service) attack.”

Authorities alleged that Scheuer kept a folder containing the home addresses, phone numbers and personal information of family members of the four individuals.

According to the complaint, Scheuer allegedly showed up at one of the victims’ homes on the night of Oct. 22, including footage captured by a Ring doorbell camera showing a man believed to be the suspect.

After Scheuer appeared in the home, the victim living there left the home and stayed in a hotel.

The Post has reached out to Disney for comment.

In October last year, Kanokporn Tangsuan, a doctor at New York University Langone Hospital in Manhattan, was having dinner with her husband and mother at a restaurant in Disney Springs.

According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Disney, Tangsuan had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products and informed the waiter at the Raglan Road Irish Pub that she needed “allergen-free food.”

According to the lawsuit, the couple questioned the waiter about several items on the menu. The waiter then asked the chef “if certain foods could be made allergen-free,” before returning to the table and confirming that this was possible.

Shortly after eating, Tangsuan had trouble breathing when she entered Planet Hollywood and fell to the ground.

According to the lawsuit, the doctor died at the hospital.

A medical examiner’s examination revealed that she died due to “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nuts in her system,” according to the lawsuit.

Disney initially asked a Florida court to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit on the grounds that the victim’s family had signed up for the Disney+ streaming service.

But the public reaction to the move prompted the company’s lawyers to withdraw the request.

With Postal Wires

Originally published as Fired employee allegedly hacked into Disney World, Florida restaurant menus to change peanut allergy information