Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#181

Post by crossroadsguy » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:30 AM UTC

p1anecrazy wrote: post #180

crossroadsguy wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was rejected in a hiring process because a co-worker worked there. They asked him for feedback in the final hiring decision. I was being considered for a senior staff role. The meeting room had two of my ex-co-workers. One was the person who had referred me and was my tech lead at a previous work place. This (feedback giver) co-worker (my peer; from yet another work place) told them all was great and hunky dory but…

Good riddance. A “work-life balance kind of person” is not a negative characteristic; even more so at a position where your behavior is an inspiration to many people

Well, I live in India. “Being available” and making others do the same is the national managerial obsession.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#182

Post by dlcarrier » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:31 AM UTC

dgently7 wrote: post #148

am i wrong but doesnt the article say the dude worked at "eyeline" which seems to be consistently described in a quick search as a "netflix owned vfx company" which would not really make this guy a "netflix employee". no more so that somebody working at "x" is now a "spacex" employee. Eyeline has its own ceo and presumably culture, but "rando vfx company you've never heard of fires a guy" doesnt grab headlines i gues…

If you work for a wholly owned subsidiary, the parent company has complete control and the executives have no further hindrance to hiring or firing you than they would ton anyone else, anywhere else within the rest of the company. The CEO is always beholden to the board, and if the board of the wholly owned subsidiary isn't literally the same board as the parent company, then everyone the board is appointed by the parent company.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#183

Post by ribosometronome » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:32 AM UTC

hack1312 wrote: post #170

ribosometronome wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you miss that that's according to the one sided exceprt from a lawsuit an ex-employee filed?

I notice you’re not calling them a liar.

I've no idea what happened. Treating allegations in a lawsuit as undeniable true or "flat out admissions" is a bad idea, though. Doing that would have you believing that Craig Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto, after all, he claimed in a lawsuit he is.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#184

Post by ButlerianJihad » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC

dlcarrier wrote: post #182

dgently7 wrote: post #148

am i wrong but doesnt the article say the dude worked at "eyeline" which seems to be consistently described in a quick search as a "netflix owned vfx company" which would not really make this guy a "netflix employee". no more so that somebody working at "x" is now a "spacex" employee. Eyeline has its own ceo and presumably culture, but "rando vfx company you've never heard of fires a guy" doesnt grab headlines i gues…

If you work for a wholly owned subsidiary, the parent company has complete control and the executives have no further hindrance to hiring or firing you than they would ton anyone else, anywhere else within the rest of the company. The CEO is always beholden to the board, and if the board of the wholly owned subsidiary isn't literally the same board as the parent company, then everyone the board is appointed by the pa…

It sounds like Netflix dividends have consisted of beers and private parties where AI bros brag about their race cars and tripping on Special K.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#185

Post by ksenzee » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #112

rdtsc wrote: post #56

> Adam Mendler, a workplace expert, told Inc. that this kind of exercise carries real risk when companies invite openness without ever clarifying how that vulnerability will be treated afterward. I always felt that those trust exercises, "bring your whole self to work", "let us pay for a personality test so we can know each other better" are all ruses to find the most gullible people and then take advantage of them o…

Please don't bring your whole self to work, the rest of us don't need that from you. Be polite, congenial and professional. You have the rest of your day to let it rip however you'd like.

Maybe not your whole self, but I'd like the people I work with to feel safe talking about their family, their disabilities, their religion, their culture or subculture, the things they love doing, whatever makes them human.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#186

Post by dlcarrier » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC

adastra22 wrote: post #73

bijowo1676 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

isn't this highly illegal, since it is used for medical purpose (mental health) ? its like firing a person who was sedated by professional Anesthesiologist with Fentanyl during surgery (A friend of mine had a surgery and was administered fentanyl)

Yes, IANAL but it seems very much like grounds for an open-and-shut wrongful termination suit, given that they have admitted it up front. They could be taken to the cleaners for this.

This guy's back pay of income, severance, and benefits could really add up, but that's more a factor of him getting paid a lot in the first place than wrongful termination suits being particularly fruitful. I wouldn't really describe their payouts as being "taken to the cleaners".

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#187

Post by hack1312 » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:41 AM UTC

ribosometronome wrote: post #183

hack1312 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I notice you’re not calling them a liar.

I've no idea what happened. Treating allegations in a lawsuit as undeniable true or "flat out admissions" is a bad idea, though. Doing that would have you believing that Craig Wright is Satoshi Nakamoto, after all, he claimed in a lawsuit he is.

Do you think the fired employee’s lawyer would have included it if they couldn’t prove it?

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#188

Post by Noumenon72 » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:44 AM UTC

muglug wrote: post #76

arjie wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It goes on to say that at the same retreat Baillie drank a Guinness standing on his head, after sharing that he had learned the trick from his former father in law during a conversation inspired by the trust session. From another article: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/netflix-exec... Honestly, the whole thing seems sort of innocuous. He had some particular medical treatment and then drank a Guinne…

Yeah you’ll never catch me drinking a Guinness while standing on my head at a company event. Mostly due to a total lack of coordination.

I will try to catch you, I'll just fail due to my equal lack of coordination. Never bring a pint of Guinness to a trust fall.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#189

Post by jamesfinlayson » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:47 AM UTC

shimman wrote: post #164

reactordev wrote: post #43

Your company, your coworkers, are not your friends. HR is not there for you, it's to protect the company from you. Do not disclose personal information to those who control your livelihood. Once you leave or if you build up a personal relationship with a coworker, outside of work, then maybe. Even still. I will never divulge what I have been through simply because corporate wants to be "inclusive".

Never been in an office where there wasn't some solidarity amongst workers and not the owners. I can't imagine how alienating it must be to work somewhere you feel you can't trust anyone except yourself, sounds like a self made hell. At least you get paid I suppose.

Yeah I agree. I'm still very careful who I trust but it doesn't hurt to try and build a network.

Re: Netflix employee fired for sharing personal details in retreat trust exercise

#190

Post by sssilver » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 4:47 AM UTC

bsimpson wrote: post #139

rdtsc wrote: post #56

> Adam Mendler, a workplace expert, told Inc. that this kind of exercise carries real risk when companies invite openness without ever clarifying how that vulnerability will be treated afterward. I always felt that those trust exercises, "bring your whole self to work", "let us pay for a personality test so we can know each other better" are all ruses to find the most gullible people and then take advantage of them o…

"Bring your whole self to work" was HR virtue signaling to the people favored by DEI, when it was still en vogue.

I always observed that as "bring your whole self, as long as your whole self exhibits the exact same behavior and demeanor as every other corporate employee, ideally wrapped in uniquely colored skin for beautiful decorum".