Two former Netflix employees who spoke out against Dave Chappelle’s controversial comedy special have dropped the unfair labor practice charge against their former employer.
In October, Terra Field and B. Pagels-Minor filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging unfair "retaliation, discharge or discipline" by Netflix. The charge came after the company suspended Field and fired Pagels-Minor.
Field and Pagels-Minor had been disciplined by the streaming media giant after leading a protest movement against its decision to stream a comedy special that has been criticized for being transphobic.
Field announced on Twitter yesterday that she has resigned from Netflix: “I'm not happy that this is how things turned out, but I do think this outcome is the best for all parties involved,” Field said in her tweet.
Netflix released a statement saying, "We have resolved our differences in a way that acknowledges the erosion of trust on both sides and, we hope, enables everyone to move on," NBC News reported.
“My clients have resolved their differences with Netflix and will be voluntarily withdrawing their NLRB charge,” said Laurie Burgess, a labor lawyer representing Pagels-Minor and Field, per NBC.
Last month, Netflix released Dave Chappelle’s comedy special, "The Closer." In it, the comedian calls himself "transphobic" and makes numerous jokes at the expense of trans people.
Pagels-Minor, who is trans and uses they/them pronouns, was a leader in Netflix’s Black@ and Trans* employee resource groups. Pagels-Minor helped organize an employee walkout to protest Netflix's $24.1 million deal to air Chappelle’s comedy special.
Pagels-Minor, who was pregnant at the time, filed their labor charge with former colleague Field, who has also been publicly critical of the Chappelle special and likewise was disciplined by Netflix. The company suspended Field after she spoke out on Twitter against the company's decision to air the comedy special, and later reinstated her. The company has said Field's suspension was unrelated to her activism and was instead because Field attended a director-level meeting to which she wasn't invited.
In an interview with the Silicon Valley Business Journal, a sibling publication of L.A. Biz, Pagels-Minor said filing the grievance was “the right thing to do.”
Pagels-Minor has since had their son, named Journey, according to their tweet.
Field looks forward in their blog post about their resignation: “Last week, B. had their son. They are both happy and healthy, and for me that is the note that I’d like this chapter of my life to end on. I want to focus on the joy, not the heartache."
