My Official Statement

[vikequeen]

I actually reached out to John via email 6 days ago and sympathized/apologized for him having to deal with Pete for so many years, my performance as a travel agent and for any stress that I might’ve put on himself and the agents with coming forward and I didn’t hear anything back.

The clear goal is to sweep this under the rug.

You really have nothing to apologize for.

 

[DLgal]

You really have nothing to apologize for.

You're right. But Sean is a decent person who has empathy for others. Even with everything that has happened to him, he feels badly about how it is affecting others. He was clearly trying to let John know that this is not about him. I think that's mighty big of him to do.

 

[vikequeen]

You're right. But Sean is a decent person who has empathy for others. Even with everything that has happened to him, he feels badly about how it is affecting others. He was clearly trying to let John know that this is not about him. I think that's mighty big of him to do.

It makes me very sad that one of the victims in this situation felt like he had to apologize and he was ignored. It’s beyond my comprehension

 

[desertgirl]

It makes me very sad that one of the victims in this situation felt like he had to apologize and he was ignored. It’s beyond my comprehension

It makes me sad too. I am trying really hard to give the benefit of the doubt that lawyers have said not to respond in any way whatsoever.

 

[DLgal]

It makes me sad too. I am trying really hard to give the benefit of the doubt that lawyers have said not to respond in any way whatsoever.

I can't imagine a lawyer would recommend that in a situation like this. Sean has not accused either John or the company of anything and is not pursuing legal action against them or Pete. He has made that clear numerous times.

Some basic human decency would be nice. You can acknowledge someone and respond cordially without jeopardizing anything. 6 days is unacceptable. Just a simple "Thank you for reaching out. I hope to discuss this further in the coming days, but for now I have been advised to keep communication to a minimum while we work through this situation."

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I mean you did just in the short term ruin their DL trip and in the long term their business.

I am sure his lawyer(s) told him not to contact you in any form or fashion.

And yes, if they can sweep this under the rug that is most ideal. Minimize exposure to minimize lost in sales and chances Disney decides to take action.

Hope you had a great cruise and have enough tank tops for the next one!

NO.

Full stop.

Sean is a victim survivor. He didn’t do that. The abuser did.

 

[vikequeen]

I mean you did just in the short term ruin their DL trip and in the long term their business.

I am sure his lawyer(s) told him not to contact you in any form or fashion.

And yes, if they can sweep this under the rug that is most ideal. Minimize exposure to minimize lost in sales and chances Disney decides to take action.

Hope you had a great cruise and have enough tank tops for the next one!

Wow the compassion is overwhelming. Ignore.

 

[Rsbuxt1966]

It makes me very sad that one of the victims in this situation felt like he had to apologize and he was ignored. It’s beyond my comprehension

I guess that stems from the overall culture of the organisation, not just PW!

 

[desertgirl]

I can't imagine a lawyer would recommend that in a situation like this. Sean has not accused either John or the company of anything and is not pursuing legal action against them or Pete. He has made that clear numerous times.

Some basic human decency would be nice. You can acknowledge someone and respond cordially without jeopardizing anything. 6 days is unacceptable. Just a simple "Thank you for reaching out. I hope to discuss this further in the coming days, but for now I have been advised to keep communication to a minimum while we work through this situation."

Agreed!

 

[take36]

NO.

Full stop.

Sean is a victim survivor. He didn’t do that. The abuser did.

I'm not blaming him, I am just guessing why John ignored his email.

 

[take36]

Wow the compassion is overwhelming. Ignore.

I have compassion and have supported on Sean here and on the other site. Just listing some reasons why John wouldn't reply.

The tank top is an joke from the other site

 

[Nicesquad]

The whole thing makes me incredibly sad, and also hesitant to continue to participate on these boards.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I can't imagine a lawyer would recommend that in a situation like this. Sean has not accused either John or the company of anything and is not pursuing legal action against them or Pete. He has made that clear numerous times.

I'm pretty sure a decent lawyer would still tell Magi to avoid any and all conversations with anyone who could be a witness in the litigation that has already been filed, and as a precaution, any witness or plaintiff in any future litigation. Also, lawyers tend not to take anyone's word for something, regardless of how many times they say it publicly, until they have it under oath.

As to the SA, while Sean may not have any intention of suing DUT or Pete Werner or John Magi, there may be others who could be otherwise inclined, or there could be other allegations that are still within the statute of limitations for criminal charges. Again, any conversation with the victims or potential witnesses could include simple admissions of knowledge that a defense lawyer does not want to find out about in a deposition or trial testimony. Even the slightest admission of knowledge of any potentially criminal behavior by Werner, even couched in an simple apology, could be enough. There could be additional SA allegations, hostile/abusive work environment claims, wrongful terminations, even the possibility of tax fraud claims (there seemed to be an awful lot of under-the-table payments floating around, with some confusion as to who was working for who).

Between DUT and The DIS these guys have created such a cross-pollinated spaghetti bowl of entangled crap that I'm really surprised that they let the remaining team members participate in this past weekend.

 

[MK2010]

I actually reached out to John via email 6 days ago and sympathized/apologized for him having to deal with Pete for so many years, my performance as a travel agent and for any stress that I might’ve put on himself and the agents with coming forward and I didn’t hear anything back.

The clear goal is to sweep this under the rug.

I was waiting until after this weekend to see if John responded more fully or had something else to say. Thank you for your transparency @themando .

I am incredibly disappointed in his lack of response to you. Perhaps lawyers did say not to respond. But the totality of evidence is not in his favor.
1. John knew how Pete was. I understand that his interaction with Dis employees was somewhat limited. However, he lived with Pete and traveled with Pete. I believe he saw how Pete treated people.

2. His statement was definitely bungled and unimpressive. I will give him the benefit that, Im sure this is a lot to deal with and the timing of the news was less than stellar. (This whole situation seems like it was just a ticking time bomb).

3. The fact that as a human, he has found no way to reach out and extend apologies on behalf of the company (ESPECIALLY since @themando was a TA for him.), is also incredibly disappointing.

2 things I'm grateful for:
1. The DIS is going to be run by Corey who seems to have a better grasp on how to handle a PR nightmare.

2. I work for a TA company that is incredibly kind and supportive.

 

[Forever Wishes]

I guess that stems from the overall culture of the organisation, not just PW!

This. I just can't trust this organization knowing the history. Webmasters have openly admitted that they have read these other sites in the past. Sean posted his story almost a year ago and we are supposed to believe that no one who assists in the running of this site read his story? It's just not believable.

 

[take36]

It makes me sad too. I am trying really hard to give the benefit of the doubt that lawyers have said not to respond in any way whatsoever.

I'm pretty sure a decent lawyer would still tell Magi to avoid any and all conversations with anyone who could be a witness in the litigation that has already been filed, and as a precaution, any witness or plaintiff in any future litigation. Also, lawyers tend not to take anyone's word for something, regardless of how many times they say it publicly, until they have it under oath.

Sean has mentioned he talked to a lawyer before and there may be other skeletons that may come up in the future. John not saying anything without his lawyer okaying is absolutely the right action to protect his company. His lawyer probably had a talk with him on going off script in his "official statement." These allegations can end his company and he has to do what his consul says to best protect it.

Heck if I was him I would nuke these threads or even this whole board. The stakes are too just too high.

I support the victims and the innocents but I can still try to see the big picture and the best moves each player should make.

 

[beebop2173]

Pretty tone deaf in my opinion. Why not address the big white elephant in the room before announcing or teasing a Podcast Cruise?

Yes. This approach will continue, a combo of their “let it blow over” PR strategy and need to make money.

I just can’t imagine Disney will continue to affiliate with this crew, ie DU/Disboards/team werner/magi

 

[DLgal]

I'm pretty sure a decent lawyer would still tell Magi to avoid any and all conversations with anyone who could be a witness in the litigation that has already been filed, and as a precaution, any witness or plaintiff in any future litigation. Also, lawyers tend not to take anyone's word for something, regardless of how many times they say it publicly, until they have it under oath.

As to the SA, while Sean may not have any intention of suing DUT or Pete Werner or John Magi, there may be others who could be otherwise inclined, or there could be other allegations that are still within the statute of limitations for criminal charges. Again, any conversation with the victims or potential witnesses could include simple admissions of knowledge that a defense lawyer does not want to find out about in a deposition or trial testimony. Even the slightest admission of knowledge of any potentially criminal behavior by Werner, even couched in an simple apology, could be enough. There could be additional SA allegations, hostile/abusive work environment claims, wrongful terminations, even the possibility of tax fraud claims (there seemed to be an awful lot of under-the-table payments floating around, with some confusion as to who was working for who).

Between DUT and The DIS these guys have created such a cross-pollinated spaghetti bowl of entangled crap that I'm really surprised that they let the remaining team members participate in this past weekend.

I would tend to agree with this if the lawyer actually thought they could win a case against them...

At this point, it seems like this entire company may want to avoid ANY sort of legal action and would bend over backwards to make sure that they are doing right by any current and former employees, because there was a lot of shady stuff happening, as we all know by now.

 

[DLgal]

Sean has mentioned he talked to a lawyer before and there may be other skeletons that may come up in the future. John not saying anything without his lawyer okaying is absolutely the right action to protect his company. His lawyer probably had a talk with him on going off script in his "official statement." These allegations can end his company and he has to do what his consul says to best protect it.

Heck if I was him I would nuke these threads or even this whole board. The stakes are too just too high.

I support the victims and the innocents but I can still try to see the big picture and the best moves each player should make.

That's the thing about the internet. Even if he "nukes" the site, the information is out there already and screenshots exist for the sake of posterity. The "other" site has already taken several screenshots from here and shared them there.

The best path forward for this company is acknowledgment of what happened, making it right (which, if it went to court would include settlements, most likely), and taking steps to do better and make changes going forward to prevent this type of thing from ever happening again.

 

[starry_solo]

That's the thing about the internet. Even if he "nukes" the site, the information is out there already and screenshots exist for the sake of posterity. The "other" site has already taken several screenshots from here and shared them there.

The best path forward for this company is acknowledgment of what happened, making it right (which, if it went to court would include settlements, most likely), and taking steps to do better and make changes going forward to prevent this type of thing from ever happening again.

Ok, what is this other site that you speak of? I've been reading through the various threads on this topic, which were pointed out to me by another DIS member that I know IRL.