The probe's key witness allegedly said he "did not like Haitian people"
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts faces a federal lawsuit alleging it fired a long-tenured Haitian employee after a workplace investigation that relied on biased testimony.
Mercius Delice, who spent nearly eight years as a line cook at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, filed suit on March 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Delice v. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., No. 6:26-cv-00701). The lawsuit brings claims of race and national origin discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.
According to the filing, Delice had a spotless record across his entire tenure — no disciplinary actions, no performance complaints, no warnings of any kind. That history, the lawsuit argues, makes what came next all the more striking.
In May 2024, a coworker named Jorge Frost-Madden accused Delice of sexually inappropriate conduct and lodged a complaint with Disney management. But the lawsuit points to a complication: Frost-Madden himself had submitted a separate written complaint to Disney management around the same time — on or about May 7, 2024 — describing what the filing calls a workplace "permeated with anti-Haitian hostility." Among the details in that complaint was that a coworker named Aida openly referred to Haitian employees as "monkey" in Spanish.
The filing also notes that Frost-Madden's own written statements to Disney were largely focused on scheduling grievances and workplace conditions, with the allegations against Delice occupying only a small portion. In one statement, according to the lawsuit, Frost-Madden acknowledged that after he told Delice certain behavior made him uncomfortable, Delice stopped.
Disney's investigation, which the lawsuit says spanned more than four months, relied on Mike James, a Black American coworker, as a corroborating witness. James, according to the filing, had separately expressed that he "did not like Haitian people." The lawsuit states Disney either knew or should have known that his testimony was compromised.
Then there is the question of language access. When Disney's HR team interviewed Delice on or about August 14, 2024, he provided his written statement in Haitian Creole. The filing alleges the company did not provide a certified translator or interpreter, even though the rest of the investigation was conducted entirely in English.
Delice denied the accusations and told Disney that the complaints were false and motivated by discrimination, according to the lawsuit. He had also raised concerns about anti-Haitian hostility with management before his termination. Disney let him go on September 17, 2024, citing sexual harassment allegations.
The lawsuit further alleges that other Haitian employees, including Yvette Shawl, faced similar targeting — and that employees outside Delice's protected class who engaged in comparable or more serious conduct were not terminated.
Delice is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, back pay, front pay, reinstatement to his former position, and a permanent injunction against discriminatory employment practices.
Disney has not yet responded, and no determination has been made on the merits of the case.
