Ex-employee removed or changed allergens present in some of the menu items, among other offences
A former employee of Walt Disney World has received three years of jail time after he changed the information in the company's restaurant menus following his termination.
Michael Scheuer, 40, was also ordered to pay a total of $687,776.50 in restitution to his victims after he pleaded guilty on January 29, 2025.
Scheuer's penalties stem from his termination for unspecified conduct in 2024 following an argument with his supervisor about menu creation.
After his termination, Scheuer carried out a series of computer intrusions or attacks directed at his former employer, according to a press release from the Justice Department, which cited court documents.
Among the intrusions that he made was manipulating the allergen information in restaurant menus to indicate that food items were safe for customers with certain allergies.
Court documents obtained by PEOPLE revealed that he removed allergens, such as peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish, from food information. He even deleted the mention of "peanut" and replaced it on the ingredient list with "milk."
In some cases, he also allegedly changed some of the menu items' names to add profanity, such as altering "cheesy grits" to "cheesy s***s," according to PEOPLE.
Scheuer also altered menu information related to wine regions to reflect locations of recent mass shootings, as well as lowered the price of some items on the menu.
The attacks were conducted over a three-month period, where Scheuer hacked the servers that hosted the menu creation programme. He also launched denial-of-service attacks to lock certain company employees out of their accounts.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Through the strength in our partnerships, our Cyber Task Force swiftly identified Mr. Scheuer and disrupted his ability to continue threatening the public," said Matthew Fodor, FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge, in a statement. "We are committed to safeguarding a robust Cyber Strategy to unmask malicious cyber actors to ensure justice is served."
Scheuer was charged with one count of computer fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, to which he pleaded guilty in January.
The court documents did not indicate Walt Disney World as Scheuer's former employer, but The New York Times reported that the menus entered into evidence are from the theme park's restaurants in Orlando.
The changes that Scheuer made never reached the public, according to the Times report, as they were caught before ever reaching the printing stage.
David Haas, Scheuer's lawyer, said his client's actions stemmed from wanting to be noticed by Disney so he could get a response.
"He knew the menu changes would be identified in Disney's extensive menu review process," Haas said as quoted in a court document.
Haas told the media last week that Scheuer is grateful for the court's 36-month sentence, which is half of the 70-month sentence requested by prosecutors.
"Mr. Scheuer remains remorseful and apologetic to the victims," Haas told PEOPLE. "We are grateful that the Judge heard all of our arguments and mitigation when fashioning a sentence that was half of what the government was seeking."
