Shocking story a CM just shared with me

[WonkaKid]

Folks, I’m at the park now and a CM just told me about something nasty that happened to her when she was still new. Apparently a guest didn’t want to go around a planter so instead he chose to tramp through it. She approached and asked him not to. He then punched her in the face, which left her with a black eye for two weeks. It gets worse. In response, management elected to do absolutely nothing. The man was not even removed from the park and they told the CM, essentially, that it was her fault and she needed to think of other ways to handle future similar situations so that she won’t get punched. Out. Rageous. She did her job and was assaulted. If that happened outside of the park, the jerk would have been arrested. I’m shocked that Disney let this slide. She also told me that she’s bruised by guests and spat at regularly. People that do that sort of thing should be banned from all Disney parks for life. Horrible behavior like that should never, ever be tolerated.

 

[hyperminimalism]

Folks, I’m at the park now and a CM just told me about something nasty that happened to her when she was still new. Apparently a guest didn’t want to go around a planter so instead he chose to tramp through it. She approached and asked him not to. He then punched her in the face, which left her with a black eye for two weeks. It gets worse. In response, management elected to do absolutely nothing. The man was not even removed from the park and they told the CM, essentially, that it was her fault and she needed to think of other ways to handle future similar situations so that she won’t get punched. Out. Rageous. She did her job and was assaulted. If that happened outside of the park, the jerk would have been arrested. I’m shocked that Disney let this slide. She also told me that she’s bruised by guests and spat at regularly. People that do that sort of thing should be banned from all Disney parks for life. Horrible behavior like that should never, ever be tolerated.

If this is true, this is absolutely terrible. However, I have a very hard time imagining management would let something like injuring an employee would fly with Disney. The company has a reputation to uphold, and although they have been stingy with their employees in terms of pay and benefits, she could have easily filed a lawsuit for her injury on the job, especially given how Disneyland apparently always has eyes on everyone and everything. Since she claims she had a black eye, I'm assuming that would create issues with her being at work. I'm not sure Disney wants their CMs to roll up into the parks looking like they just got walloped (but I don't work there so I don't know what policy is). I hope that's not the case here, but it's not completely outrageous that a manager might not do anything about it.

 

[tarheelalum]

Disney clearly doesn't care for her well being but after the brawl this summer with that family, it doesn't surprise me. She should have just picked up the phone and called 911 on her own. But she was probably was scared they would fire her for that.

 

[IsleofDisney]

Folks, I’m at the park now and a CM just told me about something nasty that happened to her when she was still new. Apparently a guest didn’t want to go around a planter so instead he chose to tramp through it. She approached and asked him not to. He then punched her in the face, which left her with a black eye for two weeks. It gets worse. In response, management elected to do absolutely nothing. The man was not even removed from the park and they told the CM, essentially, that it was her fault and she needed to think of other ways to handle future similar situations so that she won’t get punched. Out. Rageous. She did her job and was assaulted. If that happened outside of the park, the jerk would have been arrested. I’m shocked that Disney let this slide. She also told me that she’s bruised by guests and spat at regularly. People that do that sort of thing should be banned from all Disney parks for life. Horrible behavior like that should never, ever be tolerated.

I find this shocking. Whether at work or off-duty, this is assault. It's not like she's law enforcement or even security where in normal work environment there might be a physical altercation. This is battery and she can press charges, wondering why she didn't report this to law enforcement? It might be too late at this point. I can't see Disney condoning such behavior among park guests. There was that time at DHS where a park guests punched a CM at Tower of Terror. I think this person has a lifetime ban, not sure about any charges though. Seems odd that the CM was treated this way by management, not at all surprised that a park 'guest' lashed out in this way. The difference may be there is video evidence of what happened to the ToT CM, maybe there is no recordings of the assault & Disney has their hands tied? Hard to believe there would be no witnesses.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I'm sorry but I would need something more to corroborate her story.

 

[Runnsally]

Strange (and horrible if true) story. Also strange that a CM would tell this to a guest.

 

[piccolopat]

I really have a hard time believing this is true. For one thing, I can't imagine what would have prompted a CM to tell a complete stranger (guest) about an incident that happened years prior. It might have been different if it just happened and the CM still had the bruises and those prompted the guest to ask questions. Also, a story like this, if true, would outrage many people. At least some guests might be inclined to go to guest services and complain about how this CM was treated. That complaint might then lead to the CM's dismissal since complaining about your employer to guests like this is likely against company rules. I don't know that any CM would risk losing their job by doing something like this. An injury like this would have required medical attention and that would be a workers comp claim so there would have to be a record on this. Last, even though this happened on Disney property, I don't think the CM loses their right to press criminal charges against someone who assaults them. Disney would also have increased liability if a violent guest isn't promptly dealt with and then goes on to assault another CM or guest.

 

[ashley0139]

Um, okay.

 

[DLgal]

I'm calling BS on this story. First of all, can you imagine the payout from a lawsuit if this actually DID happen? I mean, if it happened to me, I would simply call the police and press charges. I wouldn't give a bleep what my boss had to say about it, and if they had the nerve to fire me over that? I'd sue them for wrongful termination. There is just NO WAY this would be handled like the OP says it was in the state of CA with OSHA laws.

Either the CM was pulling your leg or you are making this whole thing up.

And how the heck do you have this kind of conversation with CMs. I really don't believe a CM would share such a story. Reflects badly on them. It's basically gossiping.

I had a Guest Relations CM tell me today that she realized on her way into work that all 3 of her kids have Marvel character names and she JUST realized that. That's the kind of convo I have with CMs at the parks...

 

[tsumgirl]

I've had CMs tell me stories about guest behavior that's less than ideal, mainly in regards to pin trading, but never bad-mouthing the company to a guest. That's in poor character no matter where you work.

 

[WonkaKid]

Addendum. This is not the first CM I’ve spoken with who’s been assaulted by a guest, at least two left with bruises. I talk with many people throughout the day at DL. Many of the CMs seem to be comfortable enough to speak frankly with me about things like this for whatever reason. A few years ago I spoke with an African American CM who told me that not a week passes without a guest hurling horrible racist remarks at her. I’ve always believed that about 90% or the world is comprised of decent, loving and considerate people. The remaining 10% are either deficient or filled with hate and inflicted with unearned entitlement. Invariably, CMs agree with this assessment. That amounts to at least 1,000 angry, beligerant people every day of the year in the park. Given that number, how probable is it, then, that at some point one will lash out physically to people they deem beneath them? That probability is a number indistinguishable from 1.0.

 

[tarheelalum]

I would simply call the police and press charges. I wouldn't give a bleep what my boss had to say about it, and if they had the nerve to fire me over that? I'd sue them for wrongful termination.

If you were worried about losing your job or having your hours cut to the point that you would not be able to make your rent that month, I think you would care. Lawsuits take years and years to pay out, and that is even if you win, which is no guarantee. But you still have to make your rent at the end of the month and the landlord doesn't care if you got beat up and your hours were cut because you called the cops on some thug who punched your lights out at work.

And let me ask you, if that family brawl this summer was not caught on video and posted for all the world to see, and Wonka posted that story here, would you have believed it?

 

[WonkaKid]

I've had CMs tell me stories about guest behavior that's less than ideal, mainly in regards to pin trading, but never bad-mouthing the company to a guest. That's in poor character no matter where you work.

Sounds to me like she told the truth about the company (since I was there and had a strong sense of her sincerity). That's hardly bad-mouthing the company. As I'm sure you and many other people here know, telling the truth about someone or some entity is a strong defense against charges of libel or slander. That is, if a statement made about someone/some thing is ugly but nonetheless true, there can be no claim for libel or slander. It's not unlike if people "bad-mouthed" Disney because security didn't intervene physically in last summer's fight in the park. Disney and other people may be uncomfortable with such statements but they happen to be the truth. If it's unsavory, that's solely Disney's fault.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

So, I have never worked at DL, but it's pretty common in the theme park industry. I've worked at 2 other parks and, while physical abuse is rare, it happens. I ran into more issues with verbal abuse from guests. But of all the times weird things happened when I was around, I only saw a guest escorted away once and it was because they were drunk when they did it.

That being said, why would a CM tell a story like that to a guest?

 

[tsumgirl]

Sounds to me like she told the truth about the company (since I was there and had a strong sense of her sincerity). That's hardly bad-mouthing the company. As I'm sure you and many other people here know, telling the truth about someone or some entity is a strong defense against charges of libel or slander. That is, if a statement made about someone/some thing is ugly but nonetheless true, there can be no claim for libel or slander. It's not unlike if people "bad-mouthed" Disney because security didn't intervene physically in last summer's fight in the park. Disney and other people may be uncomfortable with such statements but they happen to be the truth. If it's unsavory, that's solely Disney's fault.

Sorry, poor choice of words.

What I mean is that guests do not go to Disney to hear employees speak badly about their work environment. I'm not addressing the truth of her story (although I do have my doubts), I'm saying there are more appropriate venues to air your grievances.

 

[azdisneylover]

Sometimes when you go to a place over and over again, a bond does occur. People can sense when someone really cares, and perhaps this CM felt that in Wonka. I am a type of person where people feel they can open up to me. Wonka is that type of person. When a person talks to their supervisor about a situation, and they see other employees say something and get shut down about something, it gets tough and you have to make a decision if you want to make big waves, get fired, shut up and look for another job.

 

[DuskKodesh]

To the people saying it sounds fishy, I've worked retail for the last ten years and even I've been assaulted twice. No injuries, but I've been lucky. Someone tried to slug one of my managers because during bankruptcy we couldn't honor rewards dollars and gift cards. Not our decision, believe me...

I 100% would believe a castmember if they said they'd been assaulted. There are crazy people out there and the castmembers seem to for the most part be really young. When I was that age I'd never have thought of calling OSHA though as a teen I was denied breaks, worked overtime, and denied meals on certain shifts. I was young, and dumb. never again.

 

[ashley0139]

To the people saying it sounds fishy, I've worked retail for the last ten years and even I've been assaulted twice. No injuries, but I've been lucky. Someone tried to slug one of my managers because during bankruptcy we couldn't honor rewards dollars and gift cards. Not our decision, believe me...

I 100% would believe a castmember if they said they'd been assaulted. There are crazy people out there and the castmembers seem to for the most part be really young. When I was that age I'd never have thought of calling OSHA though as a teen I was denied breaks, worked overtime, and denied meals on certain shifts. I was young, and dumb. never again.

It's not so much whether the actual story is true (there are crazy people in the world), but why a CM would tell that story to a guest, and why it would be posted as a thread here as though it's news.

 

[DuskKodesh]

It's not so much whether the actual story is true (there are crazy people in the world), but why a CM would tell that story to a guest, and why it would be posted as a thread here as though it's news.

Of the posting I am unsure, but I know that there were times when we were all venting about corporate to customers. Nothing nearly as bad though, just policy making it hard to help. Also this was mostly to people who questioned up above whether the initial story is true. Of everything else I am uncertain, but I bet every castmember has some stories and just lacks an audience.

 

[disneymom3]

If you were worried about losing your job or having your hours cut to the point that you would not be able to make your rent that month, I think you would care. Lawsuits take years and years to pay out, and that is even if you win, which is no guarantee. But you still have to make your rent at the end of the month and the landlord doesn't care if you got beat up and your hours were cut because you called the cops on some thug who punched your lights out at work.

And let me ask you, if that family brawl this summer was not caught on video and posted for all the world to see, and Wonka posted that story here, would you have believed it?

So, she’s too worried about her job to make a police report for assault, but not worried enough about her job to discuss something like this about her employer with a guest?? According the the CMs I have known, rule #1 is don’t bad mouth the company. Even outside of work.