Dive Brief:

• A union representing actors who portray Mickey, Goofy, and other characters filed a complaint on June 5 with the NLRB, challenging a policy that it says prevents the performers from revealing which animated figures they portray, according to the Associated Press.
• Teamsters Local 385 said in the complaint that Disney was committing an unfair labor practice. A grievance was filed last week with the company. The two-week-old written policy prevents actors from publicly revealing in social media or traditional media which characters they play, according to the union.
• Violations could lead to disciplinary action including firing, said Donna-Lynne Dalton, recording secretary for the Teamsters local. So far, she said, none of the 1,200 character actors at Walt Disney World have faced any disciplinary action.

Dive Insight:

The confidentiality policy had been a subject of negotiations during past contract talks, but it never made it into a contract, said union officials. The performers are very concerned because you can't "un-tell" somebody something, Dalton said, noting that have "family and friends that already know this and have pictures of themselves in their performing roles. It's out there."

Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said the company has always expected the performers not to reveal the actors behind the characters, saying the policy is "in line with our longstanding expectation for cast members to uphold character integrity."

Dalton told the AP that performers may need to share which Disney character they've played in order to get acting jobs elsewhere, but they also respect the idea of keeping the "integrity" of the characters they play. That means not showing up in costume outside the theme parks or revealing to children that they're a performer who plays Minnie Mouse.

Stay tuned.