Netflix hit with unfair labor charge from suspended and fired employees

Two Netflix employees have accused the company of retaliating against them for organizing protests against Dave Chappelle's The Closer

By William Hughes | October 30, 2021 | 2:27am

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Netflix hit with unfair labor charge from suspended and fired employees

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After weeks of controversy surrounding its release of—and then vocal high-level support for—the transphobic material in Dave Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, streaming giant Netflix now faces an unfair labor charge from two of its current/former employees.

Specifically, The Verge reports that software engineer Terra Field—who was temporarily suspended by Netflix shortly after The Closer first aired, after voicing protest about its release in a Quarterly Business Review meeting the company said she wasn’t invited to—and B. Pagels-Minor—who the company fired after accusing them of leaking its proprietary financial data—have filed labor charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.

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Per Variety, the NLRB, the independent government agency charged with investigating violations of U.S. labor laws, confirmed that it had received the charges.

Both Field and Pagels-Minor have been involved in protest organization at Netflix, including working on the October 20 employee walkout at the company put together by its trans resource group. Netflix issued a statement tonight in regards to the charges, denying accusations that it has retaliated in any way against its employees for their protests:

“We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks,” a Netflix spokesman said a statement. “But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out.”

Pagels-Minor—who’s currently pregnant, and dealing with insurance fallout from their firing—has denied charges that they leaked information about Netflix’s internal metrics that made its way into a Bloomberg report. Field, meanwhile, says that she’s currently on medical leave, having faced doxing and death threats after raising issues with Netflix’s support for Chappelle’s special. Both are accusing the company of punishing them for speaking up, with their lawyer stating tonight that the labor charges are “all about collective action. It’s about supporting your coworkers and speaking up for things you care about.”