Netflix executive sues the company for firing him based on what he said at a company outing earlier this year.
A Netflix executive has sued the company after being fired on the basis of what he said at a company retreat earlier this year. New York Post reported that Kevin Baillie said in his lawsuit that the company undertook a ‘vulnerability-trust exercise’ at a January 2026 retreat at Sendero Ranch, a Northern California property. Baillie has been on the visual effects team for “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the Harry Potter franchise.At that retreat, Baillie shared with his colleagues that he had taken ketamine in 2022 because he was prescribed the treatment after his mother’s death.But this admission triggered an investigation against the execurive and he was fired from his $1.1 million a year job and was also denied of severence. The investigator made it look like a recreational drug abuse. In April, Baillie was fired and the company made it clear that his ketamine therapy issue was factored into the termination.Baillie said apart from his ketamine use, the office investigation also checked his drinking and use of vulgar words. He said he had been warned during his performance review that he should “drop one or two less f-bombs but don’t stop entirely”.The lawsuit said that Baillie drank a Guinness standing on his head at the same retreat as the colleagues were participating in the trust session. He told his colleagues that he could do this trick and that his former father-in-law taught him. The colleagues asked for a demonstration and Baillie showed them the trick.Baille, in his lawsuit, mentioned that the company encouraged alcohol drikining qand Eyeline Syudios CEO Jeff Shapiro himself purchased beer at company outings. In addition to hosting multiple parties, Shapiro also had a personal bar in his office “from which he served alcohol (to Baille) including after a successful meeting with Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos,” according to the papers.The NY post report mentioned that Baillie is asking for a jury trial, compensatory damages, lost wages, damages for emotional distress, and punitive damages; and that Netflix and Eyeline have not yet issued any statements.
