Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort renovation sparks lawsuit — and it involves hot sauce

Howard Cohen
·2 min read

When an Orlando construction services firm won a $48 million contract to renovate Walt Disney World’s Saratoga Springs Resort, the “achievement marked another step in the successful rise of one of one of Central Florida’s most heralded woman-owned construction business,” according to a lawsuit filed against a Disney timeshare.

The 63-page lawsuit, filed July 1 in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Orange County, alleges that work ground to a halt earlier this year over a “multitude of contractual breaches by Disney, which fatally interfered with the project.”

Disney has not commented on the lawsuit.

Led by Nicole Wickens, Validus Construction Services’ suit against Disney Vacation Club Management says her company should have “netted millions” to renovate the 16-year-old resort, but instead she was faced with construction delays, inflated costs, delayed payments and the withholding of approval on change orders.

One construction delay the lawsuit cites was due to a fire code violation at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, the Orlando Sentinel first reported.

Things got especially heated when Disney’s construction team, led by project manager John Gavin, turned into “a crescendo of abusive behavior” that included personal taunts via messages and memes.

Wickens’ suit on behalf of Validus found some of the messages “misogynistic and belittling.”

One texted meme included a photo of a Diablo Hot Sauce packet in response to a message about the completion of rooms on a particular day. The intended meaning, according to the lawsuit, was to “emphasize that Disney would put the ‘heat’ on Validus.”

Validus Construction’s lawsuit against Disney claims the company’s construction team used memes to belittle owner Nicole Wickens, including this text message image of Diablo Hot Sauce, according to a lawsuit filed in July 2020 in Orange County.
Validus Construction’s lawsuit against Disney claims the company’s construction team used memes to belittle owner Nicole Wickens, including this text message image of Diablo Hot Sauce, according to a lawsuit filed in July 2020 in Orange County.

Another included a photo of a prehistoric squirrel finding a nut while falling in response to an inquiry from the field team.

“Disney joked that Validus did not know what it was doing and would never catch up to its goal,” the suit said.

Disney terminated Validus contract “without cause” in April, the lawsuit said, a month after the resort closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A letter of intent in June went out to a new general contractor to finish the project for $13 million more than Validus’ original deal, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Validus is asking for unspecified damages.