LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Netflix Inc. is asking a judge to confirm an arbitrator's rejection of a case brought by a Black former Netflix Inc. employee who sued the company, alleging he was fired in 2021 because of his ethnicity and for complaining about disparate treatment on the job.
Netflix attorneys filed court papers on Monday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Small asking him to make official the findings of the arbitrator, retired Judge Kirk H. Nakamura, who ruled in favor of Netflix and against the lawsuit plaintiff, Jerrold Ivery. A hearing is scheduled Dec. 8.
According to Nakamura, Ivery did not allege that he suffered an adverse employment action because of his race, that he had shown "zero evidence" of any discriminatory motive and that the plaintiff "was not performing adequately in his position."
Netflix fired Ivery for "legitimate and non-discriminatory reasons," the arbitrator found.
"(Netflix) has met its burden of proof in demonstrating that no triable issue of material fact in this case," Nakamura wrote. "(Ivery's) opposition is simply speculation and unsupported by evidence or case law."
Ivery sued Netflix in August 2021, alleging race discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment and retaliation. He sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. In December of that year, Judge Steven J. Kleifield, who is now retired, agreed with Netflix that Ivery had signed an agreement when he was hired in 2019 to arbitrate all employment disputes. The judge put Ivery's case on hold pending the outcome of the arbitration.
Ivery's lawyer, Chaka C. Okadigbo, argued at the time that while some case law favored Netflix's position on arbitration, there was nonetheless a split of authority. However, Netflix lawyer Ashley Farrell Pickett maintained that three state appeals court cases backed the company's position. She also said that Ivery's employment papers had an arbitration agreement that was less than two pages long and had "very conspicuous language."
Ivery, now 53, was hired in June 2019 and worked as a production finance associate in Netflix's Los Angeles office until his March 17 firing, the suit states.
"Netflix never provided any feedback to Mr. Ivery that indicated his work needed to improve or he would risk termination," the suit states
While working for Netflix, Ivery expressed concern often about two independent contractors working for Netflix, including one whom the plaintiff believes was "at the very least racially prejudiced" based on the aggressive behavior shown by the contractor, the suit states.
The contractor once shouted at Ivery for purportedly speaking too loud in a conversation with the plaintiff's non-Black supervisor, saying it disrupted his phone call, but the contractor did not similarly berate Ivery's boss, the suit states.
Ivery also believed the contractor was chauvinistic, based on Ivery's observations of how the contractor interacted with women, the suit states.
Ivery filed a discrimination complaint against the contractor in October 2020, triggering an investigation that ended in February "with no actions taken to address Mr. Ivery's concerns of discrimination," the suit states.
Instead, less than one month after the investigation was concluded, Netflix abruptly fired Ivery, saying his emails displayed a "problematic communication style," the suit states.
However, Netflix only brought two emails to Ivery's attention, one that was allegedly problematic and a subsequent one that the company found acceptable and exemplary, according to the suit.
"Netflix was unbothered, however, because its goal was to terminate Mr. Ivery's employment for filing a discrimination complaint, and any rationale, no matter how tortured, was sufficient," the suit states.
Netflix offered flimsy reasons for Ivery's firing and did not terminate non-Black employees who engaged in far worse conduct, the suit states.
"Netflix's retaliatory termination of Mr. Ivery's employment is especially offensive here, considering that Netflix has superficially tried to pass itself off as being genuinely interested in diversity and inclusion," the suit states.
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