former Disney World Resort employee pleaded guilty to hacking into one of the company’s computer systems and removing life-saving allergy information from restaurant menus.
Michael Scheuer was fired on June 13, 2024 for his alleged misconduct. He worked as a menu production manager, and his termination was deemed “contentious and … not considered consensual,” according to the federal lawsuit.
Scheuer has pleaded guilty for knowingly transmitting programs, information, code and commands and intentionally tampering with a protected computer and aggravated identity theft, according to a Jan. 10 plea agreement.
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Photo by Michael Scheuer (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Scheuer’s attorney, David Haas, said his client is “ready to accept responsibility for his behavior.”
“Unfortunately, he has mental health issues that worsened when Disney fired him after returning from paternity leave,” he added. “No one was ever at risk of harm and he deeply regrets what happened.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Disney.
Federal prosecutors said Scheuer, who they called a “threat actor,” was responsible for creating and distributing all restaurant menus for the company, including digital menus. None of the changes made it to the print or digital version of the menu, but they resulted in $150,000 in damages, the company said, according to the complaint.
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Entrance to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. (iStock)
“Namely, the threat actor manipulated the allergen information on menus by adding information to some allergen notices indicating that certain menu items were safe for people with peanut allergies, when in fact they could be fatal for those with peanut allergies,” the complaint states.
Allergen changes were focused on peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and milk allergensprosecutors said.
“More specifically, the threat added notices to menu items indicating they were safe for people with certain allergies, which has potentially fatal consequences depending on the severity of the customers’ allergies,” prosecutors said. “These menus are believed to have been identified and isolated by Company A before they were shipped to the restaurants and were not distributed further.”
Statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World Orlando. (AP)
In addition, Scheuer added profanity and changed the prices of some menu items, Fox Orlando reported. He also allegedly sent multiple login requests, which prevented more than a dozen employees from being able to access their accounts and systems.
It also changed the fonts and caused some pages to be blank. Specifically, Scheuer made changes to wine information to replace geographic regions with the locations of “recent mass shootings” and incorporated a “swastika” onto menus, the filing said.
When questioned by investigators, he said he was being framed to cover up the conditions under which he was fired, the complaint states.
A crowd is seen outside the iconic castle at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. (2024. Nerd Wealth)
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He faces up to 10 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
