ERM-BC-COOP: Lack of policies, training = suit

 

“Disneyland’s failure to have policies and training regarding emergency evacuation procedures for persons with mobility disabilities knowingly endangers the lives of the thousands of persons with disabilities who visit Disneyland each year.” http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/02/09/disney-sued-for-ada/12227/

According to a copyrighted article on the Disability Scoop, LLC Web site (URL above), a visitor with quadriplegia was left "stranded" with only his wife for 40 minutes when the Small World ride malfunctioned.

If anyone thinks that a business continuity plan is complete once written, this action against Disney should be a wake-up call.

(Disney may very well have policies and training in place, and there may be mitigating factors unknown to the writer; the lawyers will fight that out.)

From a practitioner's perspective, I have to ask who at Disney is responsible to see that

(a) there are policies and procedures in place covering various aspects of risk management (more than just "traditional" business continuity)

(b) there is on-going training at levels appropriate to the risk

and were the policies and training current?

Of course the question behind the question is "Did Disney's planner even consider evacuating a handicapped person from the ride?"

One of the problems with incidents such as this one at Disney is that when the incident occurs, headlines are made. Later, often much later, when the issue is resolved, the headline, if any, is small. Translation: Disney's image takes a hit even if its lawyers prevail.

Now, change "Disney" to your employer's name to realize another risk.