Two Netflix employees, one current and one former, have filed charges with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) for retaliation. The two—rightfully—criticized a transphobic special Netflix hosts and promotes, stating this kind of hate speech will lead to violence against their community. Terra Field tweeted about the experience, with Netflix suspending her later, claiming it was because she attended a meeting she shouldn’t have. As it turns out, she wasn’t disruptive and had been invited to the meeting. Furthermore, she wasn’t alone in attending, yet only the outspoken critics of Netflix faced suspensions.
While the suspended employees got their positions back, Netflix fired B. Pagels-Minor, a Black and pregnant trans person. Netflix fired them, claiming they released information about the fact that Netflix loses money on Dave Chappelle specials. However, they deny having leaked it, and even had encouraged other protesters not to leak anything.
Netflix’s actions seemed designed to attack the most vulnerable people at the company to silence them and others. It has worked. Despite a walkout over a week ago, Netflix hasn’t announced any changes. Outside of this complaint, brought on by individuals Netflix has already gone after, employees have largely been quiet.
You can’t blame them for being more careful since they are—again, rightfully—worried about retaliation. Netflix, a billion dollar company, knows that even when corporations lose these lawsuits, they face only small punishments or fines. Still, anything is more expensive than simply not threatening your employees for speaking out against bigotry. Nothing’s worse for your image than defending bigotry.
In This Article:
Netflix Silencing Employees?
“Rights exist to be exercised and defended, and nobody will silence me in my defense of myself, my coworkers, or my community.”
– Terra Field, suspended Netflix employee
Netflix allegedly overstepped frequently in their attempts to squash internal discussion of dangerous, bigoted titles. They fired B. Pagels-Minor rather quickly, for something they say they didn’t do. The fact that Bloomberg is still receiving internal documents from someone at Netflix suggests that B. Pagels-Minor was not the Netflix leaker after all. They were just the person leading the charge to reduce the harm of Netflix’s transphobic content and boost transgender-affirming content.
Netflix suspended Terra Field and two other employees from attending a meeting they were all invited to. In fact, hundreds of other employees reportedly attended the meeting. However, Field was outspoken about the hate speech Netflix was hosting, and the damaging effects of it. She highlighted the 38 trans people murdered this year in hate crimes (now at least 43), meaning 2021 will be the deadliest year on record for trans people, by a significant margin. This follows a growth in anti-trans violence over the past decade that represents a 500% increase in anti-trans murders.
“After Pagels-Minor was fired, Bloomberg continued to publish stories containing internal metrics about Netflix shows.”
– Zoe Schiffer, The Verge
Externally, Netflix has denied trying to silence these employees. However, the company’s actions, from punishing only those who speak out to firing someone and claiming they admitted to leaking when they haven’t, suggests otherwise. Netflix employees aren’t asking the company for much, but the company’s apparent retaliation has been incredibly clear.
NLRB Complaint
“I want my child to grow up in a world where they see that their parent, a Black, trans person—because I exist, contrary to what the special says, contrary to what many people say—that I’m valued, and I’m an important person.”
– B. Pagels-Minor
Hundreds of other employees attended the meeting Field was supposedly suspended for. However, the three people Netflix suspended all had one thing in common: they spoke out against hate, quite publicly (and virally) in the form of Field’s Twitter thread. B. Pagels-Minor claims they didn’t leak anything, and the fact that Bloomberg continues to publish newly leaked content seems to confirm that. That makes this look like a clear-cut case of retaliation. Netflix can’t justify why they took action against these employees. Retaliating against employees who speak out about actions the company has taken is illegal.
Any employee at Netflix could also submit a complaint. The NLRB would investigate and add it to the list of complaints. Later, this could lead to a larger settlement. Fired employees, like B. Pagels Minor, could hope for reinstatement with backpay. Though that’s a rare outcome. More likely, Netflix will try to get a settlement. This may make up some backpay, perhaps even some severance. Employees who are still at the company who feel like Netflix retaliated against them or intimidated them from speaking up could also receive something from a settlement.
The sad truth is, the NLRB never gets what they should. These are billion dollar companies breaking the law, getting charged an amount that’s mostly insignificant. It would be like if speeding tickets only cost you $1.50. That’s not going to stop you from speeding, even if it happens once a month. Netflix hurt people, and it’s not certain yet if the proliferation of hate speech like that Netflix is hosting could lead to more violence against trans people. But for some, it already has.
The Damage Done
While #davechappelle and his @netflix boss yuk it up, let’s look at what else is happening:
A lawsuit filed by @bpagelsminor and @RainofTerra, plus they’re talking to @cancelme_daddy
Oh, and 2 more trans ppl are DEAD because of hate. https://t.co/F85mjlt1hk— Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) (@lifeafterdawn) November 1, 2021
B. Pagels-Minor, who still denies leaking anything externally, despite Netflix’s claims, is 35 weeks pregnant. They have a high-risk pregnancy, and now aren’t sure if they can rely on healthcare. Black parents are already more likely than white parents to die during childbirth in the United States. This was a dangerous situation made worse because Netflix decided to try to silence someone who spoke up, seemingly for no other reason than the fact that they spoke out.
“This is what happens with trans people — we’re tolerated as long as we’re quiet, but if we speak up we get harassed.”
– Terra Field
Meanwhile, Terra Field is on medical leave. She has received death threats for speaking out, and trolls online shared her home address (doxxing), vowing violence. Her situation proves trans activists’ point: Dave Chappelle’s words aren’t just offensive, they’re dangerous. Here’s a woman who has had to fear for her life in her own home just because she spoke out against bigotry. Her situation is proof that Netflix’s insistence that the hate they spread doesn’t spill out into the real world is a falsehood. Dave Chappelle incited this hate, and Netflix supported it.
Sarandos Walks Back Claims, Still Refuses to Do the Right Thing
Due to outrage, co-CEO Ted Sarandos has walked back his initial claims that violent speech doesn’t lead to violence. After all, Netflix has already proven that exposing people to these dangerous ideas can lead to devastating outcomes. How many parents don’t have their children anymore because of this attitude when 13 Reasons Why came out? Still, while he’s willing to walk back the idea that hate speech doesn’t lead to violence, he’s not willing to do anything about that violence he now acknowledges. It really does back up the idea that Ted Sarandos knows the damage Netflix can do, he just doesn’t care.
What’s the value of even just one trans life? Apparently, it’s less than the effort of creating a simple title card, appending it to the beginning of a video, and uploading it. This is a fix that could take less than a day of work. It’s not an expensive or difficult task. Netflix just doesn’t think potentially saving trans lives is worth the effort.
Why the Hard Way?
Rights exist to be exercised and defended, and nobody will silence me in my defense of myself, my coworkers, or my community. https://t.co/kTMWUaILRL
— Terra Field is 🏳️⚧️ Visibly Pissed 🏳️⚧️ (@RainofTerra) October 29, 2021
The question I keep coming back to with these corporations: why are you doing this the hard way? Addressing the concerns of your employees is far easier and cheaper than trying to fight them. Instead of dragging your brand through the mud, siding with bigotry, or allowing your employees to face constant harassment, just do what they’re asking. None of the demands have ever been unreasonable. From employees who simply didn’t want to face sexual harassment in the workplace to those at Netflix who didn’t want to push violent and dangerous ideology without calling it what it is.
Netflix edited 13 Reasons Why when they realized it was leading to an increase in suicides. They pulled episodes of a show in the Philippines at the request of the government due to a map shown in the show. Netflix employees simply want a change in direction: towards more inclusive programming and a warning before dangerous or hateful content, like Netflix is already doing with 13 Reasons Why.
It’s like some kind of ego-driven sunk cost fallacy. Mistakes were made that put lives in danger. Simply admit it, change what happened to create the dangerous situations, and move on. Instead, it seems Netflix, and especially co-CEO Ted Sarandos, have decided that any improvement that doesn’t come from the top down is an insult.
We’ve seen this at Google, Apple, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, and now Netflix. Employees have come forward with perfectly rational complaints and, rather than face them, management throws their fingers deep in their ears and screams, “Just fire them, fire them!” A million dollar temper tantrum. And for what? To protect some sexual abusers? Refuse to do better monitoring of a superfund site? To protect some ignorant bigot and the hate speech he spews? Who wins?
Usually the individuals, but only after corporations drag their temper tantrum to court, in front of the NLRB, and drag their brand through the mud. Netflix, a company that used to have a reputation for promoting LGBTQIA+ voices, now has the reputation of a company that spreads bigotry. Netflix, was the corporate hissy fit worth it?