A former labor lawyer at Netflix sued the streamer on Monday, alleging she was fired after complaining about racial discrimination and sexual harassment at the company.
Nhu-y Phan, who previously worked for the Directors Guild of America and IATSE Local 600, was hired at Netflix in 2021 at a salary of $400,000 per year. She alleges she was wrongfully fired three years later after raising legitimate concerns.
“Ms. Phan has been devastated both economically and emotionally by her wrongful discharge,” the suit states. “Once a highly compensated professional with a sterling reputation, Ms. Phan faces an uphill battle finding comparable employment. The stress and humiliation of her termination, loss of income and damaged reputation have been profound.”
Phan alleges that while at Netflix, she and other women of color were denied opportunities that were given to similarly situated white men. She complained to HR that her supervisor, Ted Sinclair, engaged in “microaggressions and micromanagements” toward her.
Phan also complained that she was excluded from the committee handling DGA negotiations, even though she had worked at the DGA and had a good relationship with its top executives.
At her request, Phan was reassigned to a different supervisor. But she alleges that Sinclair continued to deny her choice assignments. She complained to HR that seeing white employees get those assignments “does not feel inclusive” — and later alleged that Sinclair failed to live up to the Netflix core value of “inclusion.”
Sinclair was later promoted.
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Phan complained to HR about her new supervisor, alleging that he sexually harassed a co-worker by inviting her to lunch, dinner and drinks at Nobu.
In June 2024, Phan got a “360” feedback report urging her to work on her communication. A few months after that, in a reshuffle of the department, Phan was terminated for alleged “performance issues,” the suit states.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
From Variety US