In a reversal, The Walt Disney Company has decided that it will include a shareholder proposal asking Disney to have a third-party review of controversial changes to the Disability Access Service (DAS) program. In this article, we’ll cover what’s new and what it could mean for the DAS program going forward.
Disney to Allow Shareholder Proposal Seeking Oversight of DAS Changes
We’ll start with the news that Disney recently filed a statement, via proxy legal counsel WilmerHale, informing investors that they have reversed course on plans to block a shareholder proposal seeking oversight of the controversial changes to the DAS program.
Critically, the letter reads “the Company has determined to include the Proposal in its Proxy Materials and therefore withdraws the No-Action Request.” Here is the letter, in full:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We are writing on behalf of our client, The Walt Disney Company (the “Company”), with regard to our letter dated November 4, 2025 (the “No-Action Request”), concerning the shareholder proposal and supporting statement (collectively, the “Proposal”) submitted by Erik G. Paul. In the No-Action Request, the Company sought concurrence from the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Staff”) that the Company may exclude the Proposal from its proxy statement and proxy in connection with the Company’s 2026 annual meeting of shareholders (the “Proxy Materials”). The Company has determined to include the Proposal in its Proxy Materials and therefore withdraws the No-Action Request.
If the Staff has any questions with respect to the foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email redacted] or [phone number redacted].
Best regards,
Lillian Brown
With the new news out of the way, let’s provide some context to the recent development. We’ll start with a November 2025 letter, sent from WilmerHale to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This letter was sent to the SEC to inform them that Disney intended to exclude a shareholder proposal that was seeking a third-party review of the DAS changes for the Disney theme parks.
In the letter, Disney said that the proposal “[requested] that the Company commission an
independent review of its accessibility and disability inclusion practices, and provide a public
summary and internal briefing on the findings.”
Disney said that the proposal was “materially false and misleading”, and that it planned on excluding the proposal from the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Effectively, Disney was seeking concurrence from the SEC, and wanted to ensure that it would not be penalized for excluding the shareholder proposal. This type of letter asking the SEC if a company would be justified in excluding shareholder proposals was very common for many years. However, a late November policy update from the SEC has put Disney, and all publicly traded companies, in uncharted territory.
Basically, the SEC said that it would no longer be providing substantive responses or express views on most no-action requests for shareholder proposal exclusions, with limited exceptions.
This change in policy from the SEC has sort of forced Disney’s hand, in a way. Without the “backing” of the SEC to exclude a shareholder proposal, Disney (and any company) cannot lean on that SEC concurrence as a crutch when removing proposals.
It’s an interesting spot to be in. Basically, without SEC backing, Disney would be forced to provide a rationale for the exclusion of any shareholder proposal.
Now, Disney is reversing its previous decision and will include the shareholder proposal in the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. So, what is the proposal? Let’s take a look. We’ll start with the text of the proposed resolution.
Shareholders request that Disney commission an independent review, conducted by a qualified third party, of the company’s accessibility and disability inclusion practices. This review should assess legal, financial, and reputational risks; evaluate Disney’s policies against international accessibility standards and competitors; and identify opportunities for leadership improvement. Shareholders further request that the Board provide a public summary and internal briefing on the findings to ensure accountability and transparency.
This shareholder proposal is a direct response to a massive overhaul of Disney’s Disability Access Service (DAS) back in May 2024. In short, the May 2024 changes significantly restricted the number of guests who qualify for the program. Controversially, Disney limited access to the program for guests who had a “developmental disability like autism or similar”.
This change greatly reduced the number of guests who qualified for the DAS program. To be clear, the program was bloated, and the previously lenient requirements likely meant that there were a number of guests utilizing the program who shouldn’t have been using it. Likewise, the new restrictions seemed to swing too far in the other direction, clearly excluding guests who would not only benefit from the program but also guests who may not be able to experience the Disney theme parks without the program.
Disney has remained firm with the changes, and there is no shortage of social media videos that have gone viral within the online Disney community, showcasing guests who claim to need access to the program but were denied.
The reversal from Disney will now allow the shareholder proposal to be voted on in the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!