Ex-Disney employee admits to hacking menu system to change allergy information

A former Disney employee who was fired for misconduct has admitted hacking the company’s menu creation software to change key details, including food allergy information that could pose a risk to customers at the resort’s restaurants.

A Justice Department complaint filed last year alleged that a man named Michael Scheuer committed a variety of computer crimes after he was fired from the company he worked for. The name of the affected company was not mentioned in the complaint, although additional reports revealed that the company is Disney. Now, it has been reported that Scheuer, who previously worked as a ‘Menu Production Manager’ at the company, has admitted to committing the computer crimes in question in his capacity as… Part of the plea deal.

Court monitoring Reports it Scheuer agreed to pay Disney damages as well as a government fine. Scheuer’s lawyer, David Haas, reportedly said: “Mr. Scheuer is willing to accept responsibility for his behavior. Unfortunately, he suffers from mental health issues that were exacerbated when Disney fired him upon his return from paternity leave. “No one was ever at risk of injury and he deeply regrets what happened,” Haas added.

When contacted by Gizmodo for comment, Haas confirmed Court Watch’s report, while noting that a confession date has not yet been set. The plea date is the date on which the defendant actually admits guilt, after a plea agreement has been reached between the defense attorney and the prosecutor.

Scheuer’s attacks on the company allegedly occurred over a period of three months. During that period, he “manipulated the menus of restaurants owned and operated” by Disney, the original complaint said. More “benign” attacks involved distorting various menus by changing their font to Wingdings, rendering them incoherent. In other cases, Scheuer is said to have inserted profanity into menus. However, the most serious crimes involved Scheuer’s efforts to manipulate allergen information on menus. Scheuer is also accused of carrying out denial-of-service attacks on the business accounts of several of his former colleagues.

Court Watch reveals additional details about what Scheuer apparently did, based on newly unsealed court documents:

Scheuer changed liquor wine regions into locations where mass shootings occurred. In one case, he added a swastika to the list, court documents say. Scheuer also admitted to leaking the link and login he used to change listings to the dark web.

Fortunately, none of the restaurant menus Scheuer manipulated were distributed to venues.

Disney was already hit with an unrelated wrongful death lawsuit last year after a woman died while dining at a restaurant operated at one of Disney’s properties in Florida. The woman had allergies to nuts and dairy, and the waiter incorrectly told her and her husband that the meal she ordered could be made without those ingredients. The case came to light after Disney attempted to have the case dismissed based on a forced arbitration clause in the couple’s Disney+ trial subscription. After much outcry, Disney announced that it would discontinue its aggressive legal strategy and let the lawsuit go to trial.