Late Friday, The Verge reported that Netflix fired one of the leaders of an internal trans employee resource group who was organizing an employee walkout later this week. The employee had been encouraging trans employees and allies to walk off the job in protest of Netflix's handling of the Dave Chappelle special The Closer (in which the comedian and the streamer have been criticized for the special's transphobic content).
According to the report, Netflix fired the employee based on its suspicion that s/he leaked confidential metrics on the Chappelle Special to Bloomberg, including how much Netflix paid for it and how many have streamed it.
You might be thinking to yourself, "Jon, it sure sounds like the fired employee was engaged in protected concerted activity and the termination sure looks retaliatory." And you'd be correct … but for the alleged leak of confidential corporate data.
If (and it's a big if) Netflix holds an honest belief, based on a reasonable investigation under the circumstances, that the fired employee was the leaker and Netflix has a consistent record of terminating employees who leak company information, then the termination will likely survive legal scrutiny. A breach of company ethics by leaking confidential corporate information to the media is a legitimate reason for termination under almost any circumstances. Otherwise, however, the termination looks pretextual and Netflix might have big legal problem on its hands if (when?) the fired employee challenges the termination.