SeaWorld Demands Copies of Payment Agreements in Class Action

In a class action lawsuit over SeaWorld’s automatic renewing payment plan, the theme park has asked the court to compel the plaintiffs to hand over information about other, similar payment plans they subscribe to with other businesses.

Plaintiffs in the SeaWorld class action lawsuit allege the theme park continued to charge them regular payments under an automatic renewal payment plan even after the debt covered by the plan had been paid off in full.

SeaWorld says that in depositions, the plaintiffs revealed they are subject to other automatic payment plans with other businesses that are allegedly similar to the plan at issue in their current class action lawsuit. SeaWorld argues that the content of those payment agreements would help shed light on the plaintiffs’ understanding of the SeaWorld payment plan.

The agreements SeaWorld seeks documentation of include payment plans for purchases like utility billing, car payments, insurance premiums, mortgage payments, and media services like Netflix and Dish Network.

The plaintiffs have so far resisted SeaWorld’s requests for these documents on the grounds that they are not relevant to the case. SeaWorld counters that the language of these other payment agreements are in fact relevant because they may speak to the plaintiffs’ understanding of the language in the SeaWorld payment agreement.

SeaWorld says that under the laws of all four states involved in the class action lawsuit – Florida, Virginia, Texas and California – the documents they are requesting is admissible to help resolve ambiguities in the SeaWorld agreement. Moreover, California law says those documents would be admissible even if the SeaWorld agreement was not ambiguous, as long as those documents could show that the agreement is susceptible to another possible interpretation.

The SeaWorld class action lawsuit began in 2014. Plaintiff Jason Herman alleged he purchased two one-year “EZpasses” good for admission to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. After he paid for the passes with a year’s worth of automatic charges to his credit card, Herman says SeaWorld continued to automatically charge his credit card.

Herman claims this practice does not conform to the terms of the payment agreement. He says that under that agreement, SeaWorld does not have the right to automatically renew his annual pass since he finished paying for it in less than twelve months.

Herman has since been joined in his SeaWorld class action lawsuit by named plaintiffs William Cohen, Joey Kratt and Christina Lancaster.

The plaintiffs have already moved the court to certify the proposed Class, which they say would represent nearly 125,000 SeaWorld annual pass customers. SeaWorld has opposed the motion to certify, using expert testimony to argue that the proposed Class is not ascertainable.

The proposed plaintiff Class would encompass all one-year pass holders in Florida, Texas, Virginia and California who were charged extra after their passes were paid for under the EZpay plan.

Plaintiffs’ counsel are Paul R. Fowkes and Ryan C. Hasanbasic of Disparti Law Group PA.

The SeaWorld Auto-Renewal Class Action Lawsuit is Herman, et al. v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc., Case No. 8:14-CV-03028, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

UPDATE: On July 13, 2016, a Florida federal judge denied SeaWorld’s motion to compel production of contractual documents it says are necessary to their defense in a consumer class action lawsuit over the theme park’s EZpay annual passes, calling it a “fishing expedition.”

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 6, 2016, SeaWorld filed a motion for partial summary judgment asking a Florida federal judge to dismiss the breach of contract claim from a class action lawsuit that takes issue with its EZPay annual pass auto-renewal policies.

UPDATE 3: On March 10, 2017, a federal judge in Florida granted Class certification in a consumer lawsuit challenging SeaWorld’s EZ Pay automatic renewal terms.

UPDATE 4: On June 29, 2018, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc. has agreed t

o pay $11.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations it automatically renewed year-long passes without consumers’ consent.

UPDATE 5: March 2019, the SeaWorld EZ pay class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

UPDATE 6: On Aug. 20, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started getting checks from the SeaWorld EZ Pay class action settlement worth as much as $97.47. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!