A recently amended discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuit from Netflix’s former director of Kids & Family Acquisitions and Co-Commissions against the streamer has put the company’s hardcore adapt or perish culture unflatteringly in the spotlight yet again.
On the heels of Netflix’s ex-labor relations executive Nhu-Y-Phan’s legal action over allegedly being kicked to the curb for reporting on misconduct by higher-ups, Amy Takahara today refiled her own action against streamer and Edward Horasz, the current Director, Kids & Tween Live Action and Content Licensing. Naming names, both suits reveal the not-so-secret inner workings of Netflix as a sharp elbowed and credit-jockeying workplace, where only the strong survive by any means necessary.
In this amended complaint and the original filing of May 5, Takahara insists she was fired on January 13, after seven years at company run by Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters for confronting Horasz directly over his behavior. “In sum, Ms. Takahara’s repeated complaints unfortunately fell on deaf ears,” her 33-page filing in Los Angeles Superior Court states.
Also battling Phan’s discrimination and sexual harassment suit in LASC, Netflix’s reps weren’t warm and fuzzy Thursday when contact by Deadline over Takahara’s amended complaint. “Ms. Takahara’s position was eliminated after the team was downsized,” a spokesperson for the streamer said. “Her claims lack merit, and we believe the proceedings will prove it.”
Perhaps, but the new filing includes more details of Horasz claiming credit for Geek Girl advocate Takahara’s ideas, work and pitches; attacking her mental health; and telling her she couldn’t “handle the male-based shows” and “should stick to female-based relationship shows.” The industry vet’s depiction of a “oppressive, hostile, and misogynistic environment” offers a litany of examples that Netflix is going to have counter – and a paper trail too. With more supposed quotes from Horasz of a “lesbian agenda” at work, “witches with titties,” mocking of pregnant staffers and “complaining that he needed to hire other men to uplevel his team,” ex-Nickelodeon Director of Acquisitions Takahara calls out the joint as having a “toxic, workplace culture.”
A workplace culture that Takahara, as others have before, says offered little recourse to those who raised their voices.
Beginning with a meeting with Patti Medina, a Senior Human Resources Business Partner at Netflix in early December 2024 after another alleged run-in with Horasz, Takahara says nothing was significantly done to address her concerns or her supervisor’s behavior. After Ms. Takahara’s complaint during this January 7, 2025 meeting, Netflix and its HR department did not rectify the situation. Ms. Takahara’s complaints should have alerted Netflix to respond and intervene, much less conduct an investigation, to protect her. Netflix’s subsequent protection of Mr. Horasz, however and the HR employee’s reference to severance for Ms. Takahara(without finding her another job within Netflix) reinforced the illegal message that Netflix would tolerate bias and harassment in the workplace. Indeed, Defendant’s failure to remedy his harassment sent a message that women’s complaints were unimportant further creating a hostile environment.
According to the complaint, which demands a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages: “Defendants recklessly, maliciously, and oppressively violated Ms. Takahara’s constitutional, statutory, and common law rights under California law, and Netflix’s institutional failure to take any corrective measures (after her multiple complaints) demonstrates its conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others, warranting both significant compensatory and punitive damages.
BTW: When asked about Phan’s lawsuit back on July 21, Netflix’s reaction was a staid “these claims lack merit, and we intend to defend this matter vigorously.” Sound familiar?
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