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Shannon Sullivan: Walt Disney World Cast Member Fired For Alligator Tweet Gets Her Job Back

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 09:40 PST, Jul 16, 2016

Shannon Sullivan, a Walt Disney World cast member (Disney refers to its theme park employees as “cast members”) who was fired for tweeting a picture of an insensitive sign about alligators in an employees-only area, has gotten her job back, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting.

Last week Sullivan, who had been working as part of the Florida theme park’s College Program, saw a sign in an employee break room that offended her. The tweet has since been removed.

“If a Guest asks if we have gators in the water around Tom Sawyer’s Island (or any other body of water), the correct and appropriate answer is ‘Not that we know of, but if we see one, we will call Pest Management to have it removed.’ Please do not say that we have seen them before. We do not want our Guests to be afraid while walking around Frontierland. As a reminder, this is a serious matter. Please do not make jokes with our Guests about this. “

As you are no doubt aware, Walt Disney World is intensely aware of the issue of alligators in the waters around the property, following the June 14 death of 2-year-old Lane Graves. Graves and his family, according to WESH (Orlando), were enjoying the beaches near Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort when he was attacked and killed by an alligator that had crawled out of Seven Seas Lagoon.

Since that time, Walt Disney World has installed ropes and barriers around waterways to keep guests out (and gators in), as well as scrubbing references to alligators from elements throughout the parks.

Still, Sullivan says she found it offensive that her employer would instruct her to lie to guests.

“I was very offended by it and I was pretty vocal about it.”

Shannon, who has a 2-year-old brother, decided that she would risk her job in order to get the word out about the sign. Walt Disney World’s social media policy forbids cast members from discussing their jobs on social media, or from posting photos of backstage areas — that is, areas that are off-limits to the general public, according to EMGN. Still, she decided it was worth it.

“At this point it became my morals and my integrity and what I believe in. I thought if I lose my job because of that, it’s worth it to me.”

She tweeted the photo, and sure enough, on Thursday, she lost her job. Her manager told her that her term in the College Program would be ended effective immediately; her employee identification was taken from her and she was escorted from the park by security.

After the Sentinel got word of Sullivan’s termination, Disney quickly changed their minds and offered her her job back. Magic Kingdom Vice President Dan Cockerell himself went to Sullivan personally to tell her the news. She’ll be back on the job at the Magic Kingdom until later in the month, when her College Program internship was initially scheduled to end.

Disney, meanwhile, claims that whoever put up the sign that got Sullivan fired did so without authorization, and claims not to know who put it up. Cast members are advised to be honest about alligators; if a guest asks, they are to “acknowledge that parts of the theme-park resort can attract wildlife,” and then remind the guest that they should notify a security cast member if they see any gators.

Do you believe that Shannon Sullivan deserved to be fired for breaking Disney policy and sharing the sign about alligators on social media?

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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