Netflix fires three senior execs for criticizing their coworkers on Slack

• Netflix fired three senior marketing officials after they complained about their coworkers on Slack 
• The staffers weren't identified and what was said is not known 
• There's a culture of transparency in Netflix and a source told Hollywood Reporter that small group grumblings is a fireable offense 
• In a statement to DailyMail.com, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said the critical Slack messages were about the fired employees' colleagues 
•  'These were critical, personal comments made over several months about their peers - including during meetings when those peers were talking or presenting' 

Netflix fired three senior marketing officers for criticizing their colleagues on Slack. 

The senior staffers haven't been identified and what was said haven't been revealed, but someone found months' worth of messages on an open Slack channel.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said the critical Slack messages were about the fired employees' colleagues and that they were more than venting or a single conversation. 

'These were critical, personal comments made over several months about their peers - including during meetings when those peers were talking or presenting,' Sarandos said. 

'This is entirely inconsistent with those values, which is why their manager fired them. It's also worth noting that we don't proactively monitor Slack or email. The Slack channel was open so anyone could access the conversations even though the employees concerned thought it was private.

'These decisions are always tough and always sad. But having a healthy culture requires hard decisions, which is why managers don't shy away from them at Netflix.'  

The company reportedly has a very transparent workplace environment, a source with knowledge of the situation and the thinking of Sarandos told the Hollywood Reporter.  

'If you vent [there], you do it very publicly,' this person said. As for complaining in small groups, 'Ted told me it’s a firing offense because it’s destructive to the fabric of the company.'

Netflix has a unique culture of transparency that's outlined on their website and lists 10 core values with a bullet-point summary of each: judgement, communication curiosity, courage, passion, selflessness, innovation, inclusion, integrity and impact. 

According to Netflix's website integrity is described as 'You only say things about fellow employees you say to their face.

'This attribute is one of the hardest for new people to believe - and to learn to practice. In most situations, both social and work, those who consistently say what they really think about people are quickly isolated and banished. 

'We work hard to get people to give each other professional, constructive feedback - up, down and across the organization - on a continual basis. Leaders demonstrate that we are all fallible and open to feedback. People frequently ask others, “What could I be doing better?” and themselves, “What feedback have I not yet shared?”' the website says. 

Netflix's firing practices were a topic of a 2018 Wall Street Journal story that highlighted the company's cut-throat style of business. 

Superiors constantly ask themselves if they would fight to keep an employee. If the answer is no, the employee is let go, according to the report. 

CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings used that 'keeper test' when he fired early Netflix employee and close friend Neil Hunt, the company’s chief product officer who created the company’s algorithm. 

His reasoning, according the Wall Street Journal, was a different employee was better suited to handle the job as the company expanded internationally.