Roy Disney Sues Walt Disney Co.
Roy Disney sued the Walt Disney Co. on April 8 to release information on how many employees participated in last month's protest vote against the reelection of chief exec Michael Eisner, the LOS ANGELES TIMES reported.
In the suit filed in Delaware Chancery Court, Disney asked the court to make the company show documents, records, proxies and ballots from the annual meeting in Philadelphia.
Disney, partner Stanley Gold and other representatives believe that as many as 70% of the 28 million shares held in the Disney 401(k) plan were withheld in the Eisner vote, and that the actual number would reflect an overall lack of confidence in Eisner by rank-and-file employees.
Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha said the company wants to release information, but that Disney must first make sure it abides by confidentiality requirements dictated by federal law. The company has additionally countered that the vote totals will not reflect how Disney employees feel overall.
Meanwhile, in light of the poor box office opening of THE ALAMO ($9.1M), Tom Staggs, sevp/cfo of The Walt Disney Co., issued the following statement on Monday to reassure shareholders and Wall Street overall:
"Given the performance we're seeing in our businesses, we remain confident in our ability to deliver attractive growth in our earnings. In fact, assuming a continuation of the favorable economic conditions and trends we're seeing, we believe that we will deliver earnings growth from continuing operations of more than 40% for this fiscal year, versus the $0.65 per share we reported last year."