Disneyland employed a pro wrestler accused of sexual harassment

A former skilled wrestler who has been accused by a number of girls of sexual misconduct labored briefly on the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland earlier than he was just lately dismissed, park officers mentioned Wednesday.

Joseph Meehan, recognized within the wrestling world as Joey Ryan, labored for the theme park for about three months in a probationary standing till Disneyland declined to rent him as a full-time worker, in line with Disneyland officers.

“Mr. Meehan is not employed by us,” a Disneyland spokesperson mentioned, declining to elaborate on why he was not given a everlasting job and whether or not the harassment allegations performed a job in that call.

The theme park’s screening course of for potential workers features a legal background verify, however Disneyland officers mentioned that verify didn’t alert them concerning the harassment accusations in opposition to Meehan, beneath his stage identify, that appeared in social media posts, wrestling fan websites and sports activities blogs in recent times.

A number of makes an attempt to succeed in Meehan by his lawyer and thru e-mail have been unsuccessful.

Meehan labored as knowledgeable wrestler from 2000 till as just lately as 2019, beginning as a founding member of the Professional Wrestling Guerrilla, making appearances in matches promoted by World Wrestling Leisure and being featured within the Nationwide Wrestling Alliance. His wrestling persona was a macho, mustachioed playboy who wore Speedos and sun shades.

In previous social media posts, Meehan has denied the allegations of sexual harassment raised in the course of the “Talking Out” motion, which introduced consideration to allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in wrestling. He filed at the least seven libel and slander lawsuits in opposition to the ladies who accused him of harassment.

Virtually all of these lawsuits have been both dismissed or not pursued by Meehan, in line with court docket data. In a single case, a decide threw out Meehan’s go well with, citing an anti-SLAPP statue, which can be utilized to forestall highly effective entities from intimidating critics for working towards free speech. Meehan’s lawyer, Joe Utzurrum, mentioned a federal court docket case filed by his shopper is pending.

Meehan’s brief tenure at Disneyland comes because the park works to retrain and rent sufficient folks to return to the complete staffing of about 32,000 workers employed earlier than the pandemic. The Disneyland resort, which now employs about 30,000 employees, is anticipated to succeed in full capability ranges this summer time as demand for journey rebounds now that COVID-19 well being restrictions have been lifted and masks are not required within the park.