A former Netflix production executive has filed suit against the media company, claiming that her termination was retaliation for complaining about religious and sex discrimination rather than her refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Shelley Stevens claims in her California state court lawsuit that Netflix violated state workplace gender bias, retaliation, and harassment laws by mocking the religious beliefs of the unvaccinated and promoting a sexually charged company culture. When she spoke up, Stevens claims, the company used her unvaccinated status as a pretext to fire her.
A former vice president of production at BBC Worldwide, Netflix hired Stevens as the first woman to hold a manager position on its original series production team. According to Stevens, the company maintained a “flirtatious” office environment and encouraged employees to meet one-on-one to promote its core value of curiosity. Stevens describes the meetings as an opportunity for male employees to flirt, hug, and touch female employees.
Stevens also cited various off-site events for employees where alcohol was present. In 2017, Stevens’ director was fired for inappropriately touching a woman at one of those events. When Stevens became pregnant, her supervisor retaliated by removing all her responsibilities for the shows on which she had been working. After she complained, the supervisor was reprimanded, and she regained her responsibilities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Netflix identified vaccinated and non-vaccinated workers using a lanyard system and set up red zones that excluded unvaccinated workers. In response, workers bullied and teased colleagues who chose to remain unvaccinated based on religious reasons. The company then instituted a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy with a deadline of December 31, 2020. Stevens said that because of her autoimmune condition, her doctor recommended that she not receive the vaccine, so she sought an exemption. Netflix denied her exemption and her request to work remotely, ultimately firing her in January 2021.
Stevens claims that Netflix fired her for refusing to be vaccinated, her complaints about company culture, and her pregnancy and ensuing maternity leave. The case is Stevens v. Netflix Inc., Case Number not yet available, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.
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