
Fired Netflix executive sues, alleging pregnancy discrimination - pmiller2
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/4/18295254/netflix-pregnancy-discrimination-lawsuit-tania-palak
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wand3r
Leaving the allegations totally aside the article does seem a bit misleading.

The title is technically true but most people would read this as a _company_
executive-- a high-level employee. She is in fact an executive producer on a
small Spanish language program. The article title sort of implies something
like Reed Hastings/the board ousted chief communications officer Rachel
Whetstone or something.

If the allegations are true it could simply be a single bad actor within a
small unit of Netflix operating with limited oversight. Obviously, I don't
have knowledge of Netflix internal policies but my guess is that they don't
regularly do stupid , easily detectable shit like this to break the law. At
least, I hope they don't regularly do this.

~~~
mfarris
The article isn't misleading at all. She is a company executive.

Female executives getting fired for pregnancy is not unusual in the
entertainment industry. It's disgusting, but not unusual. And HR is always
eager to help the scumbag boss cover it up.

~~~
wand3r
When I read it I thought of this definition of executive:

A person with senior managerial responsibility in a business organization.
Suitable or appropriate for a senior business executive[0]

The actual content was a bit of a surprise/different than my expectations
based on the title but may not have been intentionally misleading. Consider
this article title:

 _Top Manager fired from Facebook, alleges pregnancy discrimination_

With the content being something like:

Alice, a top project manager in charge of development for an upcoming internal
tool for Spanish speaking Facebook employees, alleges her termination was due
to discrimination.

Again, pregnancy discrimination is dumb from a legal standpoint, a
cultural/employee motivation standpoint, a PR standpoint and generally just
bad practice all around. I am simply discussing how the article title seems to
frame this as a higher level Netflix internal problem when it seems likely
this is just one bad actor who had autonomy over a project and abused his
authority.

[0][https://www.google.com/search?q=Dictionary#dobs=executive](https://www.google.com/search?q=Dictionary#dobs=executive)

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chrisco255
Well, we know almost nothing about this particular case or this particular
person. Surely the internet will judge the case on its merits and not the tone
of Vox's headline. I have faith we'll practice restraint and await the verdict
from the eventual court hearing.

~~~
gnicholas
Well, since 90% of cases are settled out of court, we may never have the
chance. You're right that we don't have many facts here, but sometimes that's
all you'll ever get. External judgments are then made based on the frequency
of claims and other factors.

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jhanschoo
This reminds me of a slide deck allegedly about Netflix's company culture,
that I think I first came across on reddit.

[https://igormroz.com/documents/netflix_culture.pdf](https://igormroz.com/documents/netflix_culture.pdf)

In particular, this part rubbed many people off negatively:

    
    
      We’re a team, not a family
      We’re like a pro sports team,
      not a kid’s recreational team
      Coaches’ job at every level of Neflix:
      to hire, develop and cut smartly,
      so we have stars in every position
    
      The Keeper Test Managers Use:
    
      “Which of my people,
      if they told me
      they were leaving in two months
      for a similar job at a peer company,
      would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?
    
      The other people should get a generous severance now,
      so we can open a slot to try to find a star for that role

~~~
mirkules
What really rubbed me the wrong way is the Planet Money podcast about Netflix
called “Hard work is irrelevant”. If how Netflix is portrayed in the podcast
is true, the environment is really toxic and these allegations unsurpring.
Here’s an excerpt:

> When I was initially hurt and I needed some time away, I just went into
> Patty and said, I to take a break. They don't want me to type. They don't
> want me sitting - all this kind of stuff. She's like OK. That's all she said
> - OK. Let me know when you're feeling better.

> I was out for weeks, and I kept checking in. Like, I'm thinking, they going
> to fire me. They're going to find somebody else. And I'd just send her a
> note saying, they still want me to rest. She'd write back, OK, hope you feel
> better.

> Six weeks, eight weeks, 10 weeks - I finally went to her and I said, you
> know, maybe we should formalize this. Maybe I need to go on short-term
> disability or something like that. And she goes, if that's want you want to
> do. I said, well, I'd love to come back. She goes, yeah, kiddo, I don't
> know. And I'm like, OK. And I knew it immediately. It's like, OK, they've
> already pivoted.

[https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?stor...](https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=435583328)

~~~
pxue
That was a scary and sad read.

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andy_ppp
I really don’t see how you can fire someone like this, what did the senior
executive say to HR when letting her go, there would have to be an explanation
and then a shitload of redundancy paid I would expect. Something here doesn’t
quite add up.

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truckerbill
The boss sounds like he was acting with the mentality of a jealous schoolboy.

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darkpuma
If the allegations are founded, Netflix needs to be punished harshly for this.
As a FANG company, their practices set the tone for the rest of the industry.
There are far reaching implications for a company like Netflix getting away
with shit like this. Massive punitive damages are in order.

~~~
warp_factor
What is going on with all this cult-following of "FANG" companies? I seriously
don't get it. From what I see those are close to the least ethical companies
in tech.

It really disturbs me that people chose a job for fame and money in those
companies way before choosing an interesting project, or something that you
can believe in.

~~~
darkpuma
In America, financial success endears more than ethical behavior. And when the
financially successful get away with unethical behavior, it reinforces the
idea that financial success and ethical behavior are antithetical, which only
encourages even more people to behave unethically.

A big part of the problem is that absent strict and attentive government
regulation and enforcement of the law, crime _does_ pay. We tell kids that
crime doesn't pay, but that's only true when the government is on the ball.

