With the requisite signatures in hand, all that was needed was a ministerial vote by the county commission to place the sick leave referendum on the November ballot. It’s a benefit taken for granted in most of the Western world, but typically unavailable in America to the sort of low-paid service workers who staff the Orlando-area hotels, restaurants and attractions visited by more than 60 million tourists a year. Behind the controversy was a multimillion dollar question: Should employers in all but the state’s smallest businesses be required to pay their workers for sick time off? In the tourist economy in metro Orlando, where median pay tends toward rock bottom in national rankings, a grass-roots group in 2012 collected the 50,000 signatures needed for a vote to mandate such payments. So it was jarring to see the company name attached to the scandal known as “Textgate” in the Magic Kingdom’s home in Orange County, Florida. The company is generally low-key when it comes to political wrangling and has earned a reputation as a stellar citizen through its generous charitable giving in Florida.

No company guards its squeaky clean image more fiercely than Disney. Barbara Liston is a freelance writer based in Orlando.

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