Florida former Disney employee sentenced to 3 years for hacking menus, changing allergen info: Officials
Florida man sentenced for hacking Disney's menus
A former Disney employee who pled guilty to hacking into the park's menu system is now heading to prison. Winter Garden resident Michael Scheuer, 40, will serve three years in federal prison, as well as forfeit his computers and pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
ORLANDO, Fla. - A judge has sentenced the former Disney employee who was accused of hacking into the park's menu system to remove peanut allergy information, add profanities and change fonts.
Michael Scheuer, 40, will serve three years in federal prison, as well as forfeit his computers and pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
Scheuer, of Winter Garden, previously pleaded guilty to the allegations in January.
Fired Disney employee faces federal charges
The backstory:
Scheuer previously served as a menu production manager for the company. He was responsible for the creation and distribution of all restaurant menus for the company, including the digital menus.
According to a federal complaint, he was fired on June 13, 2024, for "misconduct."
A judge has sentenced 40-year-old Michael Scheuer, of Winter Garden, to three years in federal prison. The judge said he must also forfeit his computer and pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims of his crimes. (Credit: Walt Disney World/Orange
His firing was "contentious and…not considered to be amicable," the complaint stated. The complaint alleged that Scheuer, described as a "threat actor," "made several menu changes that threatened public health and safety."
He allegedly added profanity and changed the pricing of some items on the menus, according to the complaint. He is also accused of sending multiple log-in requests, which prevented more than a dozen employees from being able to access their accounts and systems.
Although none of the changes ultimately made it to printed or digital versions of the menu, the complaint said the damages exceeded $150,000.
Although Disney was not specifically mentioned in the federal complaint, and is instead described as "a media and entertainment company" referred to as "Company A," Scheuer's defense attorney confirmed to FOX 35 News that his client's former employer was Disney.
The FBI raided Scheuer's house on Sept. 23, confiscating at least four computers.
Fired Disney employee hacked theme park menus: complaint
A fired employee of Walt Disney World Resort allegedly hacked into restaurant menu software, adding profanity or removing serious allergy information from them, the FBI alleges in a criminal complaint. None of those changes passed safety checks and were ever displayed in front of theme park guests, the complaint said, but the risk was there. The man's attorney said his client hurt no one and that he looks forward to defending him in court.
What they're saying:
Scheuer originally denied any involvement or wrongdoing to the FBI. He alleged that "Company A was attempting to frame him because they were worried about him and the conditions under which he was terminated."
David Haas, the attorney for Scheuer, said his client had a disability that impacted his employment at Disney.
"He had a medical event that resulted in him being suspended," Haas said. "Disney then failed to respond to his inquiries about why he was suspended, and then his suspension was inexplicably changed to a termination. Disney refused to provide a response as to why he was fired and made no accommodations for him. He subsequently filed an EEOC complaint. I look forward to vigorously presenting my client’s side of the story."
Scheuer was originally charged with one count of knowingly causing the transmission of a program, information, code or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage without authorization in excess of $5,000.
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The Source: This story was written based on information gathered from previous reporting, as well as official court documents.