Former Disney employee pleads guilty to hacking menu

January 13, 2025

A former Disney World Resort employee has pleaded guilty to hacking into one of the company's computer systems and removing life-saving allergy information from restaurant menus.

Michael Schuer was fired on June 13, 2024 due to allegations of misconduct. He worked as a menu production manager and his termination was deemed “contentious and not considered friendly,” according to the federal complaint.

According to a Jan. 10 plea agreement, Scheier intentionally transmits programs, information, codes, or commands to intentionally cause unauthorized damage to a protected computer and commits aggravated identity theft. Pleaded guilty to the crime.

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Michael Scheuer mugshot (Orange County Sheriff's Office)

In a statement to FOX News Digital, Schuer's attorney, David Haas, said his client is “ready to accept responsibility for his actions.”

“Unfortunately, he has had mental health issues, which were exacerbated by Disney's firing of him upon his return from maternity leave.” “No one was ever at risk of injury and he deeply regrets what happened.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Disney.

Federal prosecutors called Schuer a “threat person” and said he was responsible for creating and distributing all of the company's restaurant menus, including digital menus. The company said the change, which was not reflected in the print or digital version of the menu, resulted in $150,000 in damages, according to the complaint.

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The entrance to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. (St. Petersburg)

“In other words, a threat actor could provide some information indicating that a particular menu item is safe for someone with a peanut allergy, when in fact it could be deadly for someone with a peanut allergy.” “manipulated the allergen information on the menu by adding it to the allergen notification on the menu,” the complaint states.

Prosecutors said the allergen changes focused on peanut, tree nut, shellfish and milk allergens.

“More specifically, the attackers are adding annotations to menu items stating that they are safe for people with certain allergies, which can have potentially fatal consequences depending on the severity of the customer's allergies.” “There is a sex,” the prosecutor said. “It is believed that these menus were identified and quarantined by Company A before being shipped to the restaurant and were not further distributed.”

Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue at Walt Disney World Orlando. (AP)

In addition, Mr. Schuer added profanity and changed the prices of some items on the menu. fox orlando Reported. The company also allegedly sent multiple login requests, leaving more than a dozen employees unable to access their accounts or systems.

Also, the font has changed and some pages are now blank. Among other things, the filing says Mr. Scheuer changed information about his wines, replaced geographic regions with locations of “recent mass shootings,” and embedded “swastikas” in menus.

When questioned by investigators, he said he was framed to hide the conditions under which he was fired, according to the complaint.