Netflix clarifies sacking of three marketing execs over Slack comments

Sarandos took swift action against the trio, citing Netflix standards of conduct, which disallow personal comments made against colleagues in the workplace to counter bullying. This policy is encapsulated by a written rule that ‘you only say things about fellow employees you say to their face’.

According to Variety, none of the comments could be classed as racist, sexist, homophobic or grounds for gross misconduct, but that hasn’t stopped rumors circulating as to the nature of the remarks and who they were directed at.

Weighing into this febrile atmosphere, Sarandos quashed rumors originating in the Hollywood Reporter that the criticisms had been directed at superiors, insisting the untoward remarks had focused on their peers.

Referring to the unfortunate incident, Sarandos said: “What happened here was not simply venting on Slack or a single conversation. These were critical, personal comments made over several months about their peers.”

Sarandos was at pains to add that intelligence on the systematic bullying was not obtained by any subterfuge, with the messages being freely viewable on a public channel for all to see.

Praising Sarandos as a “real one” for taking swift action, Saint John expressed pride on Twitter at Netflix for upholding its “culture values”.