Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special, “The Closer.” (Screenshot via YouTube)
SAN FRANCISCO | The two employees at the center of the conflict with streaming giant Netflix over its support of comedian Dave Chappelle, who is accused of expressing transphobic commentary in his comedy special “The Closer” released earlier this month, have filed grievances with the National Labor Relations Board.
Terra Field and B. Pagels-Minor through their legal representation, the Burgess Law Offices in San Francisco, filed a set of complaints with the NLRB’s regional office in San Francisco Oct. 27. The two women are alleging that the company is engaging in unfair and discriminatory labor practices.
After the special aired, Terra Field, an out trans Netflix senior software engineer based in San Francisco, posted a series of tweets that expressed anger over Chappelle’s transphobia.
Field in her Twitter thread countered the position laid out by Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos in a memorandum to the company’s staff members obtained by entertainment trade news magazine Variety, in which he defended Chappelle.
“Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him. His last special “Sticks & Stones,” also controversial, is our most-watched, stickiest and most award-winning stand-up special to date,” Sarandos wrote.
Field pointed out that Chappelle’s promoting the kind of ideology and speech can result in real-world consequences especially death for trans people.
Field went on to say of Chappelle, “our existence is ‘funny’ to him – and when we object to his harm, we’re ‘offended.’” She then listed numerous names of trans people, specifically highlighting trans women of color, killed in hate crimes.
Within days of Field’s tweet-rant, she was suspended although Netflix alleged the reason was she and a couple of other company staffers were suspended for trying to attend a meeting to which she hadn’t been invited. In a statement released to the media, a company spokesperson said, “It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.” Field was later reinstated.
Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager and currently pregnant, was fired by Netflix two weeks ago after the company alleged she disclosed an internal Netflix document regarding metrics on Chappelle’s special including about how much the streaming company paid for and how many people it reached in the various market penetrations.
“We have let go of an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company,” Netflix said. “We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company.”
Pagels-Minor disputes this saying that her actively organizing the Oct. 20 walkout in solidarity of all of the company’s trans employees was why Netflix took retaliatory action and terminated her.
In the NLRB filing, Field and Pagels-Minor say Netflix retaliated against them “to quell employees from speaking up about working conditions including, but not limited to, seeking to create a safe and affirming work environment for Netflix employees, speaking up about Netflix’s products and the impact of its product choices on the LGBTQ+ community, and providing support for employees whom Netflix has treated in an unlawful and disparate manner.” The NLRB filing names Sarandos as the employer representative.
Laurie Burgess, one of the firm’s attorneys representing the women told The Verge, “This charge is not just about B. and Terra, and it’s not about Dave. It’s about trying to change the culture and having an impact for others. The charge is all about collective action. It’s about supporting your coworkers and speaking up for things you care about.”
Netflix responded in a statement sent to The Verge and The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks. But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out.”
Pagels-Minor, who is 35 weeks pregnant, is now about to lose their health insurance. “Amidst all the stress, I am trying to take one day at a time and focus on my health,” they said in an interview with The Verge. “As a high-risk pregnancy, I have to be careful. We don’t even know what our health insurance situation is, and we are scheduled to be in a hospital having a baby in less than 30 days.”
This past week Chappelle said in a video posted to Instagram he’d be willing to meet with transgender employees of Netflix who have called for the streaming platform to remove his comedy special, “The Closer,” but the comedian offered caveats and restrictions.
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“First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end,” he said in the video. “You must come to a place of my choosing, at a time of my choosing. And thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”
Gadsby, a comedian whose work has also been streamed on Netflix, said on Instagram that Chappelle’s special would unleash “hate and anger” for the LGBTQ community as Chappelle makes millions of dollars “to process his emotionally stunted partial world view.”
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The comedian also garnered the support of prominent right-wing conservative celebrity Caitlyn Jenner who defended Chappelle tweeting, “Standing up for Dave Chappelle shouldn’t be big news, but it’s the right thing to do. Cancel culture is killing our society. These wokesters are outraged at every single thing. Maybe it’s because they have miserable lives that they have to drag everyone else down.”
Standing up for Dave Chappelle shouldn’t be big news, but it’s the right thing to do.
Cancel culture is killing our society. These wokesters are outraged at every single thing. Maybe it’s because they have miserable lives that they have to drag everyone else down. pic.twitter.com/sgGohMMCVX
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) October 29, 2021
Earlier last week Jenner also tweeted, “Dave Chappelle is 100% right. This isn’t about the LGBTQ movement. It’s about woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech. We must never yield or bow to those who wish to stop us from speaking our minds.”
Dave Chappelle is 100% right. This isn’t about the LGBTQ movement. It’s about woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech.
We must never yield or bow to those who wish to stop us from speaking our minds. pic.twitter.com/Nklalj6h5Y
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) October 26, 2021
