A former Disney employee has been accused of hacking into software used at Walt Disney World and changing allergen information, adding profanity, and launching denial-of-service attacks against other employees.
Michael Scheuer is accused of knowingly and without authorization causing the transmission of information to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage, according to a federal criminal complaint filed at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Scheuer, a former “menu production manager” who was responsible for creating and publishing menus for “Company A’s” entire restaurant portfolio, was fired on or around June 13, 2024, for “misconduct,” according to the filing. “Company A” was confirmed by Scheuer’s lawyer, David Haas, to be Disney World.
The termination was “contentious and not considered to be amicable,” the criminal complaint said.
The affidavit by FBI Special Agent Timothy Callinan alleges that the former employee “manipulated the allergen information on menus by adding information to some allergen notifications that indicated certain menu items were safe for individuals with peanut allergies, when in fact they could be deadly to those with peanut allergies.” Scheuer also made “changes to prices” and added profanity to the menus, Callinan said.
In addition, Scheuer allegedly changed menu fonts from letters to symbols and altered the QR codes on some menus to direct users to an anti-Israel website, according to the affidavit.
The filing stated that only employees in Scheuer’s position or similar “would have the accesses and knowledge to carry out the attacks.”
When Disney discovered the changes made to the menus, it was forced to turn the menu creation program offline for one to two weeks. The company said the attacks cost at least $150,000, according to the filing.
On Sept. 23, federal agents executed a search warrant at Scheuer’s home and seized four personal computers, the affidavit said.
The criminal filing states that Scheuer denied any involvement or wrongdoing and alleged that Disney was trying to frame him “because they were worried about him and the conditions under which he was terminated.”
Though Scheuer admitted to using his personal Google Chrome profile to conduct work activities while he was employed, he was unable to verify if he accessed Disney’s systems after his termination because he believed he might have used it to access items such as paystubs and financial information, according to the filing.
At the same time, Scheuer allegedly committed denial-of-service attacks against around 14 Disney employees, causing them to be locked out of their company accounts.
In an emailed statement to NTD, Haas said that the criminal allegations “acknowledge that no one was injured or harmed by any menu alterations.
“Mr. Scheuer has a mental disability that impacted his employment at Disney,” Haas wrote. “He also had a medical event that resulted in him being suspended. Disney then failed to respond to his inquiries about why he was suspended and 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 his disability,” the attorney wrote. “He subsequently filed an EEOC complaint. I look forward to vigorously presenting my client’s side of the story.”