Following the backlash to Dave Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, Netflix has fired a trans employee who was organizing an upcoming walkout, as reported by The Verge.
This is not the first employee who has been penalized by Netflix for their unhappiness with Chappelle’s special. Terra Field, a trans software engineer, was suspended following a viral Twitter thread about The Closer, though she was later reinstated. The Verge reports that this newly fired employee is also trans, as well as black and pregnant. Netflix told The Verge that it fired this employee over suspicion of leaking internal metrics to the press.
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“We have let go of an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company,” Netflix told The Verge. “We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company.”
The upcoming Netflix walkout will become part of a wave of large-scale labor actions this month, alongside the John Deere and Kellog strikes. Netflix employees told the Los Angeles Times that they want Netflix to acknowledge the harm that Chapelle’s special has caused to trans people, and commit to releasing more LGBTQ content on the platform.
