Bloomberg Law: Netflix Loses Appeal in Lawsuit Over Poaching of Fox Executives
December 2, 2021
As a result of an injunction upheld by a California appellate court, Netflix Inc. lost an appeal to a decision that ordered the company to stop poaching employees from Twentieth Century Fox. Fox sued Netflix in 2016 alleging that the streaming giant, “enticed certain Fox executives to leave the company, breaking fixed-term contracts.” The California Court of Appeal rejected Netflix’s appeal of the decision that argued Fox’s contracts were unconscionable and against public policy. “Netflix’s interference could not be justified as promoting an interest or right that the targeted employees had voluntarily relinquished,” California Supreme Court Justice Dorothy C. Kim wrote. “[T]he social interest in protecting Fox’s legitimate expectancy of stable and predictable economic relationships outweighs any arguable competitive interest that could have been advanced by Netflix’s interference.” O’Melveny represents Fox.
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