5 ms·

Netflix Fires Marketing Execs for Criticizing Bosses over Slack

56 points by mmhsieh 5y ago

tw04 5y ago
On the one hand, they should have known better than to use netflix communication channels to talk negatively about work/bosses. On the other hand, it's a REALLY bad look for Netflix to fire employees for chatting negatively about their boss in private messages. The whole "we're radically transparent" sounds like a horrible excuse for someone's ego getting bruised. I guarantee there are hundreds if not thousands of private chats on their slack with employees complaining about coworkers. I presume they're now combing through every private chat and terminating any employee who said something negative about a coworker? No?
- foobaw 5y ago
  It's unclear if these were private messages. It's possible these were posted on public channels. AFAIK, Slack doesn't allow companies/IT access to private messages unless there are legal implications.
  - tw04 5y ago
    There are multiple articles about the issue and it literally states they were private messages in them. https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-fires-marketing-executives-who-complained-about-company-leadership-slack-2021-7?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-fires-marketing-exec... > Netflix has fired three senior executives within its film marketing team for airing complaints via private Slack messages Yes, slack absolutely allows IT to view your private messages. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/24/21079275/slack-private-messages-privacy-law-enforcement-lawsuit https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/24/21079275/slack-private-...
  - sMarsIntruder 5y ago
    As far as I know you can ask a complete dump of their DB through a simple GDPR request.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  >"we're radically transparent" Didn't Ray Dalio patent that or something?
underseacables 5y ago
I have no problem with this. I worked at a company about five years ago where employees used G chat to say some really nasty things about other employees. I only found out because one of them was using a temporary laptop that we had to do presentations, and I opened it up and G chat loaded and there was this disgusting talk about other employees trashing them, talking about the religion, all of this stuff. People vent, I get that, but letting employees gossip about one another on a work provided service undermines cohesion and the ability to get the job done. If you want to complain about your fellow coworkers, go to a bar, don’t do it on the company provided slack channel. It’s grossly unprofessional.
- paulryanrogers 5y ago
  Certainly company tools are under company control. Yet in the age of the pandemic consider that the bar isn't an option. One could start a Signal conversation or group, but it's higher effort. Of course there are some lines we shouldn't cross, even if just venting. Hopefully we can all learn to be more gracious and humble, while maintaining a healthy amount of candor.
  - angry_octet 5y ago
    It's a good reminder that 'conversations' on Slack/Teams etc are NOT conversations, they are posts on a company message board. If you want an OTR conversation then do it in person (though they might record it on their phone or take a contemporaneous memo, a la Trump Whitehouse), or in Signals with expiring messages (though even then you might need to assume the other party is screen capping the messages). So best of all is to assume your messages/chats will be leaked selectively. Avoid gossip and innuendo!
  - dehrmann 5y ago
    If you're in California (Netflix is based there, so it's likely), you need both parties' consent to record a conversation in a setting you'd reasonably consider private. You're probably (I am not a lawyer) better off venting over Zoom because if your employer admits to recording the call without your knowledge, they could be in for a legal headache.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
pixel_tracing 5y ago
I mean they could have just done it on Blind instead.
MrStonedOne 5y ago
I don't really think I can judge this from the perspective I sit from. This can refer to all matters of magnitudes of disparaging. Oh wait, I can: > According to sources, their immediate boss, vp original films marketing Jonathan Helfgot, whom they also criticized, was extremely reluctant to fire the three for their comments, arguing that employees vent as a matter of course and such dire consequences were not warranted. But sources say he succumbed to pressure from higher-ups at the company. It is clear that their direct boss did not find cause in their messages to fire them. So ya, this is bullshit over hurt egos. Time for PUTs on NFLX as it is clear corporate culture will devour them.
bennysomething 5y ago
Simple rule of work "don't talk shit about your coworkers" Paraphrased from the book "the rules of work"
TheCoelacanth 5y ago
I don't see how this is even legal. Two co-workers complaining to each other about their working conditions (their boss's conduct is part of their working conditions) is a protected concerted activity under the NLRA.

56 points by mmhsieh 5y ago

tw04 5y ago

On the one hand, they should have known better than to use netflix communication channels to talk negatively about work/bosses. On the other hand, it's a REALLY bad look for Netflix to fire employees for chatting negatively about their boss in private messages. The whole "we're radically transparent" sounds like a horrible excuse for someone's ego getting bruised. I guarantee there are hundreds if not thousands of private chats on their slack with employees complaining about coworkers. I presume they're now combing through every private chat and terminating any employee who said something negative about a coworker? No?

foobaw 5y ago
It's unclear if these were private messages. It's possible these were posted on public channels. AFAIK, Slack doesn't allow companies/IT access to private messages unless there are legal implications.
- tw04 5y ago
  There are multiple articles about the issue and it literally states they were private messages in them. https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-fires-marketing-executives-who-complained-about-company-leadership-slack-2021-7?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-fires-marketing-exec... > Netflix has fired three senior executives within its film marketing team for airing complaints via private Slack messages Yes, slack absolutely allows IT to view your private messages. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/24/21079275/slack-private-messages-privacy-law-enforcement-lawsuit https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/24/21079275/slack-private-...
- sMarsIntruder 5y ago
  As far as I know you can ask a complete dump of their DB through a simple GDPR request.
perl4ever 5y ago
>"we're radically transparent" Didn't Ray Dalio patent that or something?

underseacables 5y ago

I have no problem with this. I worked at a company about five years ago where employees used G chat to say some really nasty things about other employees. I only found out because one of them was using a temporary laptop that we had to do presentations, and I opened it up and G chat loaded and there was this disgusting talk about other employees trashing them, talking about the religion, all of this stuff. People vent, I get that, but letting employees gossip about one another on a work provided service undermines cohesion and the ability to get the job done. If you want to complain about your fellow coworkers, go to a bar, don’t do it on the company provided slack channel. It’s grossly unprofessional.

paulryanrogers 5y ago
Certainly company tools are under company control. Yet in the age of the pandemic consider that the bar isn't an option. One could start a Signal conversation or group, but it's higher effort. Of course there are some lines we shouldn't cross, even if just venting. Hopefully we can all learn to be more gracious and humble, while maintaining a healthy amount of candor.
- angry_octet 5y ago
  It's a good reminder that 'conversations' on Slack/Teams etc are NOT conversations, they are posts on a company message board. If you want an OTR conversation then do it in person (though they might record it on their phone or take a contemporaneous memo, a la Trump Whitehouse), or in Signals with expiring messages (though even then you might need to assume the other party is screen capping the messages). So best of all is to assume your messages/chats will be leaked selectively. Avoid gossip and innuendo!
- dehrmann 5y ago
  If you're in California (Netflix is based there, so it's likely), you need both parties' consent to record a conversation in a setting you'd reasonably consider private. You're probably (I am not a lawyer) better off venting over Zoom because if your employer admits to recording the call without your knowledge, they could be in for a legal headache.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

pixel_tracing 5y ago

I mean they could have just done it on Blind instead.

MrStonedOne 5y ago

I don't really think I can judge this from the perspective I sit from. This can refer to all matters of magnitudes of disparaging. Oh wait, I can: > According to sources, their immediate boss, vp original films marketing Jonathan Helfgot, whom they also criticized, was extremely reluctant to fire the three for their comments, arguing that employees vent as a matter of course and such dire consequences were not warranted. But sources say he succumbed to pressure from higher-ups at the company. It is clear that their direct boss did not find cause in their messages to fire them. So ya, this is bullshit over hurt egos. Time for PUTs on NFLX as it is clear corporate culture will devour them.

bennysomething 5y ago

Simple rule of work "don't talk shit about your coworkers" Paraphrased from the book "the rules of work"

TheCoelacanth 5y ago

I don't see how this is even legal. Two co-workers complaining to each other about their working conditions (their boss's conduct is part of their working conditions) is a protected concerted activity under the NLRA.