Terra Field, the trans Netflix employee who initially criticized the platform for airing Dave Chappelle’s latest special, “The Closer,” has resigned. “This isn’t how I thought things would end,” Field wrote in a letter, “but I am relieved to have closure.”
The reason the software engineer gave for quitting was Netflix’s decision to fire another trans employee, B. Pagels-Minor, after Pagels-Minor reportedly leaked confidential financial information about Chappelle’s deal with Netflix to the press (Pagels-Minor denies this.) Field says they believe the former co-worker:
When I was looking to change teams at Netflix, when I was trying to decide if I needed a break from my [Trans* Employee Resource Group] leadership role, and when I was suspended from Netflix in October, there was one person whose advice I sought in all three cases: B. Pagels-Minor. Shortly after B. was fired for something I did not and do not believe they did, I made a decision: sink or swim, I was going to walk side by side with B. as they had for so many of us while they led the [Resource Group].
Last week, B. had their son. They are both happy and healthy, and for me that is the note that I’d like this chapter of my life to end on. I want to focus on the joy, not the heartache.
Pagels-Minor and Field together filed a federal labor complaint against the streaming giant with the National Labor Relations Board on October 29, saying the company was preventing them from talking about negative working conditions.
They claimed Netflix had retaliated against them due to their efforts to “create a safe and supportive work environment for Netflix employees, talking about Netflix products and the impact of their product choices on the LGBTQ + community, and supporting employees who have been treated in an illegal and disparate manner by Netflix.”
The same day Field announced their resignation, Netflix confirmed to The Los Angeles Times that the charges had been dropped, saying in a statement, “We have resolved our differences in a way that recognizes the erosion of trust on both sides and, hopefully, allows everyone to move on.” The timing perhaps suggests that Field’s departure was a part of those negotiations.
Field was the first Netflix staffer to publicly criticize Netflix over Chappelle, tweeting on October 6, the day after “The Closer” released, “I work at @netflix. Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness — all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups.”
Field also helped orchestrate a walkout, publishing an essay two days before the protest that attracted at most “dozens” of coworkers, that said, “Dave is not, and has never been, the cause of this problem — he is a symptom of it.”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Field was one of three Netflix employees who crashed an executive conference call about Chappelle controversy. Field was suspended but reinstated less than 24 hours later after social media outcry.