John Jefferson
Main Street at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World (AP Photo/John Raoux).
A fired Walt Disney World employee in Florida is accused of hacking into the software the company uses to create the menus for its restaurants, changing, among other things, the allergen information and potentially creating a serious public health issue.
Michael Scheuer, who was fired from the company in June and arrested last week, is charged with knowingly causing the transmission of a program to a protected computer and intentionally causing more than $5,000 worth of damage without authorization, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in the Middle District of Florida.
Among the allegations contained in the complaint, authorities say that Scheuer “threatened public health and safety” by unlawfully accessing the company’s menu creation servers. Specifically, he allegedly “manipulated” the allergy information on Walt Disney World menus by adding information to allergen notifications indicating that “certain menu items were safe for individuals with peanut allergies, when in fact they could be deadly to those with peanut allergies.”
Though Disney is not directly named in the complaint, Courtwatch and 404 Media confirmed with Scheuer’s defense attorney, David Haas, that the “media and entertainment company” referred to as “Company A” in the complaint is in fact Disney.
Scheuer was employed as a “Menu Production Manager” with Disney until he was fired on June 13, 2024, for alleged misconduct. In that role, he was responsible for “the creation and publishing of menus” for Disney’s “entire restaurant portfolio,” per the complaint. Authorities allege that only an employee who held Scheuer’s position or a position similar to Scheuer’s would have had the “accesses and knowledge to carry out the attacks.”
In addition to changing the allergen information, federal authorities said that Scheuer also made “more benign” changes to Disney’s menus, such as distorting prices, adding profanity to the menus, and replacing all of the fonts with symbols known as “wingdings.”
The complaint states that Scheuer’s alleged criminal conduct took place between June 12, 2024, and Sept. 23, 2024. On the latter date, federal agents executed a search warrant on Scheuer’s home where they seized four of his personal electronic devices.
During the raid, Scheuer repeatedly denied responsibility for the alleged hacking, instead asserting that Disney was setting him up.
“Scheuer denied any involvement or wrongdoing in the activities described. Further, Scheuer alleged that Company A was attempting to frame him because they were worried about him and the conditions under which he was terminated,” the complaint states. “Scheuer stated that he was surprised to see the FBI but that he would not have been surprised if the Sheriff’s office came to visit him to ask him to cease and desist with sending emails that could possibly be perceived as threatening.”
Under questioning, Scheuer allegedly said that while he was employed by Disney, he used his personal Google Chrome profile to conduct some work activities. However, he was “unable to definitively say” if he had accessed Disney’s systems following his termination because he may have used the system for things like pay stubs and other financial information, the complaint states.
The complaint claims Scheuer’s alleged actions cost the company at least $150,000.
Haas told NBC News that Scheur has an undisclosed disability which he believes “impacted” Scheuer’s termination from Disney.
“Disney failed to respond to his inquiries about being fired and he then filed an EEOC complaint in response,” Haas said.
Haas also emphasized that the allegations “acknowledge that no one was injured or harmed,” adding, “I look forward to presenting my client’s side of the story.”
Scheuer is scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday for a bond hearing, records show.
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