Diabetes and Neuropathy Treatment in Sarasota Springs, FL

“Trial is always a tough fight."

Disney and its former general contractor for a Walt Disney World hotel renovation are ready to go to a head-to-head trial this month in what’s been a nasty, drawn-out legal fight.

The battle pits a multi-billion dollar entertainment company versus a small, locally and female-owned business.

A trial date is tentatively scheduled for April 22 over the ill-fated construction at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort after the two sides attended a recent hearing in Orange Circuit Court.

Winter Haven-based Validus Construction Services sued Disney first in 2020 then Disney countersued six weeks later with about a half-dozen subcontractors who didn’t get paid also suing Validus.

The heart of the case is a contract dispute with both sides accusing the other of breach of contract.

The fallout between the two began when Disney hired Validus to renovate the Disney Vacation Club resort’s rooms and bathrooms for a $48 million project in 2019. Validus said a fire code violation caused major delays as it was supposed to be renovating 1,260 hotel rooms.

​​“The project which should have netted Validus millions of dollars in construction management profits, deteriorated into a dysfunctional construction mess brought about by a multitude of contract breaches by Disney, which fatally interfered with the project,” Validus said in the 2020 lawsuit.

By the end, Disney fired Validus and hired one of the subcontractors to finish the job on the Victorian style hotel.

“There were issues that were uncovered, but kind of the simple way to think about it was that Disney asked for work that they were not willing to pay for,” said Validus’ attorney Thomas Allison on Friday. “They wanted the rooms to be completed in such a way and then the scope changed … Disney was not willing to pay for that work, and it caused trouble for my client, a small business.”

Disney’s attorney John Dannecker did not return a message for comment this week.

In her lawsuit, Validus owner Nicole Wickens also accused Disney’s construction team of making sexist comments and sending her a text of a hot sauce packet as a message: Disney was putting the heat on her.

Meanwhile, Disney countersued Validus, accusing its ex-general contractor of failing to deliver on the work and doing a poor job. Disney sent Validus 23 deficiency notices, according to the counterclaim.

“Despite Disney’s notice and demands, Validus failed to cure these defaults,” Disney’s lawsuit said.

Heading into the two-week bench trial in front of Judge John E. Jordan, Disney said it could call nearly 90 witnesses including Wickens, Disney executives, former Validus employees, subcontractors and others.

“Trial is always a tough fight,” Allison said. “You’re putting the case and the claims in the hands, in our case, the judge. You hope for the best outcome.”

He added Wickens is eager to end the litigation after four years.

“This dispute is existential for our client who is a small general contractor who was doing their best,” Allison said.

Last year, when The Walt Disney Company was embroiled in its battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the company commissioned a report to remind Central Florida just how valuable Walt Disney World was to the state. The study estimated that Disney World’s value to the state was $40.3 billion in 2022, a massive amount for the state.

Of course, Disney commissioned that study, so it would make Disney World look as good as possible. However, a significant part of that study showed just how much Disney World cooperated with small businesses in Central Florida. By Disney’s estimate, it worked with more than 2,500 small businesses in the area.

Now, one small business in Central Florida is suing the Walt Disney Company over a dispute from 2019 involving the renovations of Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort. Validus Construction Company of Winter Haven, Florida, was hired to renovate the bathrooms at the Disney Vacation Club Resort.

The original contract called for Validus to renovate the bathrooms in 1,260 Saratoga Springs Resort rooms for $48 million. The construction company alleges that fire code violations and major changes in Disney’s scope of work caused significant delays in the project.

Disney fired the company and brought in one of Validus’ subcontractors to finish the work. Validus then sued Disney World, claiming breach of contract. In its lawsuit, the company claimed that Disney turned the project into a “dysfunctional mess” and asked the company to do work for which they weren’t willing to pay.

After Validus Construction Services sued the Walt Disney Company, Disney countersued, as did several subcontractors who claimed they were never paid. Now, they will all have their day in court.

Validus’ attorney Thomas Allison told Florida Politics:

There were issues that were uncovered, but kind of the simple way to think about it was that Disney asked for work that they were not willing to pay for. They wanted the rooms to be completed in such a way and then the scope changed … Disney was not willing to pay for that work, and it caused trouble for my client, a small business. Trial is always a tough fight. You’re putting the case and the claims in the hands, in our case, the judge. You hope for the best outcome.

The two sides will argue their cases beginning April 22 in Orange County Court. In an added twist to this dispute, Validus Construction owner Nicole Wickens accuses members of Walt Disney World’s construction team of making sexist remarks to her and sending her a veiled threat via text message.

According to Wickens, Disney executives sent her a photo of hot sauce, a subtle way of telling her that Disney was “putting the heat” on her.

The Disney Vacation Club Resort has since opened with its new treehouse villas, despite the lawsuit from Validus Construction Services and the subsequent delays.

The court case is expected to last four weeks.

What do you think of Disney being sued again? Let us know in the comments.

Central Florida’s springs might feel a little chillier than usual this time of year, but they’re still an amazing destination.

October 22, 2021

The Sarasota County school system defined last Friday as a “professional day,” which means, of course, that teachers and prinicpals were out partying all day and night. (I kid, I kid.) Taking advantage of the chance for a three-day weekend, my wife and I requested a day off from work and booked a small cabin in Fort White, about 45 minutes northwest of Gainesville, that was a perfect home base from which to explore central Florida’s stunning natural springs.

At first, I wasn’t sure how great the swimming and tubing would be. The temperature of springs in central Florida hovers around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Perfectly refreshing on a hot summer day, but would they be too cold in the fall, when the humidity has dropped?

My worries were groundless. Even in October, a dip in cool, clear spring water was exactly what my body needed, and there’s even an advantage to going now, because the springs were, for the most part, deserted.

We started at the justly famous Ichetucknee Springs State Park, where we rented tubes and floated the river multiple times before plunging into the bowl-shaped spring at the head of the system. Was I shivering when I got out? Yep. But sitting in the sun, wrapped in a warm towel, I felt like a new person.

There are plenty of other springs at state parks in the area, but you can also find a number of smaller county-operated swimming holes. We discovered Little River Springs in Suwanee County last year, but it is currently closed because of high water, so we dipped over to Royal Springs, near the town of O’Brien, instead. Essentially one big, deep swimming hole, Royal Springs boasts an elevated platform that’s perfect for daring leaps. Be sure to practice your primal scream on your way down.

Over at Poe Springs Park in Alachua County, it’s not deep enough to jump in, but you’ll still find unreal crystal-clear water at a spring that feeds into the Santa Fe River. My sons floated, swam and raced, and before we drove home, they were drenched, exhausted and grinning.

The dog days of Florida’s summer are upon us. The heat is thick, and our brains are bubbling in our skulls like a hardboiled egg. Meanwhile we’re hibernating indoors to avoid the scorching temperatures, and our air-conditioning bills have spiked to maybe I should just jump into the shower with my clothes on heights.

Yes, September is the month of our seasonal affective disorder. But Florida is also home to more than 1,000 freshwater springs, the densest concentration of springs in the world, with 19 billion gallons of water flowing through them every day.

So, take a day off, head north and float down a lazy river in a low-tech inner tube. You don’t have to pack any special gear, as each park offers tube rentals and provides transportation. Each spring is different, appealing to nature lovers to partiers to families, but the water is always a refreshing 68 to 74 degrees. I had the tough task of exploring four of our state’s coolest hot spots for tubing.

In This Feature:

At Ginnie Springs, Commune With Friends—Not Just Nature

It’s a little like Deliverance, but instead of hearing dueling banjos you’ll hear “Old Town Road” blasting from someone’s Bluetooth speakers.

Rainbow Springs State Park Is the Fourth-Largest Spring Formation in Florida

And you’ll share the water with a lot of critters.

09/01/2019 By Isaac Eger

Weeki Wachee Springs Offers Family-Friendly Floats

It’s an ideal spring to bring the kiddos, with three huge slides that shoot swimmers into the clear water of Buccaneer Bay.

09/01/2019 By Isaac Eger

Ichetucknee Springs Is a Nature Lover’s Tubing Experience

In 1970, the state of Florida turned what would have been a polluted phosphate mine into the crown jewel of Florida’s springs.

09/01/2019 By Isaac Eger

ALBANY — Bill Parcells won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, took the New England Patriots to another Super Bowl and led the New York Jets to their first division title in nearly 30 years.

And now the Hall of Fame pro football coach has won at the state’s second-highest court in Albany, just down the road from where the horse racing fan has long owned a home in Saratoga Springs.

On Thursday, appellate justices in Albany unanimously dismissed a lawsuit filed against Parcells by a man who sustained injuries while trimming a tree at Parcells’ home in the Spa City in 2014.

William Vickers, a landscaper who did work for Parcells between 2010 and 2014, sued the legendary coach in state Supreme Court in Saratoga County, alleging common law negligence and nuisance, the ruling said.

Parcells — nicknamed the Tuna but whose official name is Duane Charles Parcells — is originally from New Jersey but has had a home in Saratoga Springs since the mid 2000s, splitting his time between there and Florida. Parcells, who also had success coaching the Dallas Cowboys and in his later role as vice president of football operations for the Miami Dolphins, is retired.

On Sept. 27, 2014, Vickers said, he and two friends went to Parcells' home in the Spa City planning to trim bushes. Vickers said he supplied his own equipment, including a stepladder and gas-powered trimmer. Vickers said Parcells, while in a pool, asked him to remove the limbs of the birch trees on the property, even though Vickers had never done that before.

By Vickers' admission, he decided what branches to trim and chose to place a stepladder under a birch tree with its back legs resting on mulch. Vickers climbed the ladder and, while trimming, fell off and was injured, the decision said.

"Although (Vickers) confirmed that he never told (Parcells) that he needed special equipment to trim the trees, he testified that he would have brought other equipment to support the ladder if he had known that (Parcells) was going to make that request," stated the decision.

Vickers claimed that the mulch-covered area on Parcells’ property made it unsafe and that he would have brought other equipment had he known that the ex-coach would ask him to trim trees. He said it made Parcells legally responsible.

Parcells, 80, moved to dismiss the case, but state Supreme Court Justice James Walsh allowed it to continue, at least in part. The coach appealed Walsh's ruling to the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court's Third Department in Albany.

On Sept. 17, the midlevel court listened to arguments from Parcells' attorney, Michael J. Murphy and Kristie Hanson, who represented Vickers. Hanson argued that Parcells knew Vickers was a landscaper and not a tree trimmer. She also alleged his account of his whereabouts during the incident was not credible.

"Why didn't (Vickers) then say, 'I don't have expertise in trimming trees?'" Justice Stanley Pritzker asked Hanson.

"Probably because he's working for Bill Parcells," she replied. "Bill Parcells is in the pool and wants something done and everybody jumps."

The judge said that was not in the record.

On Thursday, the Third Department dismissed the entire suit against Parcells. The court ruling noted that Vickers admitted in a deposition that earlier in 2014, while Parcells was in Florida, Vickers bought the mulch and spread it around Parcells' property, including the area where Vickers was injured, without being asked to do so by Parcells.

Justice Michael Lynch, who authored the ruling, said homeowners are only liable for negligence for injuries arising from a contractor's unsafe work practices when the owner has supervisory control over the work and knows about the unsafe manner of the work.

"Even assuming that the placement of the ladder on a bed of mulch constituted a dangerous condition – a dubious premise to beginwith – (Parcells) did not create the hazard, as it is undisputed that (Vickers) and his associates were the ones who spread the mulch and placed the ladder," Lynch wrote "Nor is there any evidence that (Parcells) had actual or constructive notice of the allegedly dangerous condition."

Lynch added that Parcells "was not shown to have expertise in landscaping and, even if he was inside the house when the ladder was being set up on the mulch, this general awareness would be insufficient to establish notice of an unsafe condition."

Presiding Justice Elizabeth Garry and justices Christine Clark, John Egan and Pritzker concurred.

Murphy, Parcells' attorney, said neither he nor the former coach would comment on the case.