In 2018, Netflix offered then-Activision CFO Spencer Neumann a lucrative deal to oversee its finances, and Neumann agreed. The problem is, Neumann was contractually bound to stay with Activision until 2021, so he hadn’t been in his duty to the company when he accepted Netflix’s proposal. As a result, he had a pink slip, but still ended up as Netflix’s new CFO in 2019, putting Netflix in a position of having robbed an employee, again.
Now, Activision Blizzard has finally released a response to the streaming service’s actions. Today, the studio filed a lawsuit against Netflix claiming it is seeking injunctive relief for widespread damages. The lawsuit also alleges that Netflix stole Neumann while it was negotiating a deal with the publisher. Such an agreement would have allowed Netflix to distribute the company’s “linear multimedia content”.
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The teeth of Activision’s lawsuit come from Netflix’s deal with Neumann, in which the Strange things dealer promised that it would protect him against legal liability for his actions. In other words, Netflix apparently knew that it was encouraging Neumann to breach his contract. Activision hopes that arguing this will strengthen its overall case, as it would prove that Netflix knowingly and intentionally violated California labor laws.
As mentioned, this is not the first time Netflix has been accused of talent hunting. In 2016, Netflix hired two members of Fox, now owned by Disney, who also sued them in response. Fox didn’t get the money it was looking for, but Netflix was banned from further poaching its employees. If Activision’s alleged evidence is accurate, then this lawsuit will likely result in a similar stipulation, only for future Activision Blizzard employees. The streamer is even facing similar litigation from ViacomCBS for kidnapping executives.
In all of its battles, Netflix has tried to justify its actions by claiming that the company promotes the “freedom” of employees against the “establishment of Hollywood.” That last part is a bit ironic considering Netflix’s field of business, but it has allowed the company to get away with doing it repeatedly, so something about it must be attractive in court. It will be interesting to see if it holds up for the long term. If not, the streamer may have to search for competent old-fashioned employees.
Source: Deadline
Key release dates
- The 5 best monster faction cards in Gwent (and the 5 worst)Release Date: Dec 05, 2020
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