Whatever happened with Tigger?

[DisnIse]

The Minnie Mouse story made me wonder... what ever happened with the situation a few years ago where Tigger was accused of punching a teenage boy?

Was Tigger acquitted? Ever charged?

Just wondering....

[GrumpyFan]

I searched on this a little, but could only find the following Wikipedia info.


On January 5, 2007, a 14-year-old boy from Greenville, New Hampshire was allegedly [/URL] punched in the head by a Disney employee dressed as Tigger during a photo opportunity at Disney's Hollywood Studios. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegedly) The family felt that the act was deliberate and filed a police report of battery against the cast member from Kissimmee, Florida.
The cast member was suspended pending the results of the investigation. In the cast member's statement to the sheriff's office, he claimed that he was acting in self-defense as the child was pulling on the back of the costume, causing the cast member to lose his breath. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_at_Disney_parks#cite_note-97) A lawyer who represented another employee accused in the 2004 case against Tigger, released his own opinion on the situation. He believed the child instigated the situation and that cast member's movements were an involuntary reaction to pain. The lawyer was not representing the accused cast member at the time of this statement. On February 15, 2007, the State Attorney General's office announced that no charges would be filed against the cast member. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_at_Disney_parks#cite_note-100"] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_at_Disney_parks#cite_note-99)

[GrumpyFan]

from clickorlando.com/news/11025190/detail.html -
ORLANDO, Fla. -- No charges will be filed against the man accused of punching a boy at a Disney theme park while dressed as Tigger, Local 6 News reported. Michael J. Fedelem, 31, won't face any charges after the state attorney's office reviewed a video of the alleged incident, which was taped last month by the father of the 14-year-old boy.

The video showed Tigger apparently punching Jerry Monaco Jr. in the face and knocking him back, and prompted an Orange County sheriff's investigation into the incident.

"You don't come here for this," father Jerry Monaco said. "Disney is supposed to be a safe place. It is supposed to be a place where you come and spend time with your family. How hard did he hit you, (son)?" "Pretty hard," Jerry Monaco Jr. replied. "I could still feel it even though he was wearing the padded gloves." Monaco Sr. said he noticed the alleged attack was unprovoked after looking at the video. "At first I was upset at my son," Monaco Sr. said. "I thought he did something to Tigger. But then I review it, and it is pretty clear. For no reason, he just clocked him in the face."

Monaco Jr. said he did not provoke the attack and just had his arm around the costumed character when the incident happened. "No provoking at all," Monaco said. "It was just out of the blue." Disney officials called the family, Local 6 reported last month.

"I just wanted to follow up with you and let you know that we have spoken to the cast member in question and have reacted very strongly toward him," a man who identified himself as Jean Erik Redrupp, general manager of Park Operations at Disney-MGM Studios, said in a phone recording. "The general manager apologized to me," Monaco Sr. said.

"Everybody will come up and apologize to me but Tigger. He won't be a man about it and get out of the costume and come out and apologize to my son. I didn't want VIP treatment. I didn't want an extra day at Disney. I didn't want any of that. I wanted him to apologize and that is the one thing that they won't do." Fedelem was suspended by Disney pending the investigation, according to an AP report.


I couldn't find anything regarding the castmember's status. If I had to guess, I would imagine Disney quietly re-assigned him elsewhere, or even gave him a severance and let him go.