Michael Scheuer, a former Disney employee, has been accused of hacking the menu creation system at Walt Disney World after being terminated due to alleged misconduct.
Scheuer previously worked as a menu production manager at the company, which entailed publishing the menus for Disney's full array of restaurants. Post-termination, he is alleged to have illegally accessed the company's proprietary computer system, developed by a third party, to change menu prices, inject profanity, and alter critical allergy information. His former employer was not named in the court filing, but WFTV, in partnership with CourtWatch and 404 Media, confirmed through Scheuer’s attorney that the entity in question was indeed Disney.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Scheuer's edits to the menus included manipulating allergen information, which posed a serious threat to public health. For instance, the information was altered to mark certain food items as safe for individuals with peanut allergies when they could, in fact, be harmful or even fatal. CourtWatch noted that though the menus with the unauthorized changes were printed, they were intercepted before distribution to the restaurants.
Federal agents have seized Scheuer’s computers, yet he has refuted the accusations, suggesting that Disney is framing him because they were worried about him and the conditions under which he was terminated, according to a statement reported by WESH. The FBI has described the firing as contentious and not amicable. Scheuer admitted to using his personal Google Chrome account for work-related purposes but could not confirm whether he had accessed the systems following his termination.
