Woman Claiming ‘Donald Duck’ Groping Takes Suit to Federal Court

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Image by © ARMANDO ARORIZO/epa/Corbis

The animated duck with a habit of saying “aw, phooey!” is adorable. Until he gropes your breasts and leaves you suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

That’s the claim of April Magolon, a 27-year old from Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She says that in May 2008, while vacationing with her fiancé and children at Disney’s EPCOT Center, she approached a man dressed as Donald Duck to get an autograph. The filthy fowl reached for more than her pen “and then made gestures making a joke indicating he had done something wrong.”

(See pictures of Disney’s teenage stars.)

According to the lawsuit, which she filed in December 2009, she suffered emotional anguish, severe physical injury, flashbacks, headaches, nausea and even a digestive problem. NewsFeed suspects she has a problem eating duck in particular.

For its part, Disney said that Magolon had filed suit against the wrong corporate division and requested that the court dismiss the suit altogether, or move it from Pennsylvania, where Magolon lives, to Florida where the incident supposedly occurred. A U.S. District court judge refused that request last week, paving the way for the case to be heard in federal court. The judge also explained that the plaintiff’s fiancé and doctors were all in Pennsylvania and that Disney could afford the costs of litigation in Philadelphia more than Magolon could in Florida.

(Read “Making More Mileys: Inside Disney’s Teen-Star Factory.”)

Other Disney characters have been accused of giving theme park visitors the hands-on treatment, too. In court papers, Magolon’s lawyers say that in 2004, after a 13-year-old girl accused a man dressed as Tigger of fondling her in the Magic Kingdom, authorities received 24 similar complaints. The man dressed as Tigger was later acquitted of all charges. (via The Philadelphia Inquirer.)