Activision sued Neftlix for poaching the CFO

At the end of 2018, Netflix entered into negotiations with the CFO of Activision and eventually lured the employee to himself. Now the game publisher has sued the streaming service for interfering in contractual relations. At the same time, Netflix has been seen in similar actions with top managers of other companies before.The reason for the lawsuit was the transition of Activision CFO Spencer Neumann to a similar position at Netflix.

This is reported by Deadline with reference to documents filed with the Los Angeles Supreme Court.

How did Newman leave Netflix?Newman worked at Activision from May 2017 to January 2019.

He had two more years left in his contract, but the publisher fired him for failing to fulfill legal obligations.

The termination of the contract was directly related to the negotiations that Netflix conducted with Newman at the end of 2018. It is alleged that the head of the streaming service Reed Hastings personally participated in the poaching.

Immediately after his dismissal, Spencer was appointed CFO of the company where he still works.

Activision’s main claims and demandsAccording to Activision’s lawyers, Netflix intentionally encouraged Newman to violate his fiduciary obligations (activities related to asset management).

The company also agreed to reimburse him for any losses related to the breach of contract.

Deadline notes that this is the main claim of Activision. Such actions on the part of Neftlix may indicate that the company was aware of the consequences that the poaching of Newman could lead to before the expiration of his contract.

It is also noted that Netflix lured Newman at a time when Activision was negotiating with the streaming service about commercial cooperation to distribute its media content.

Now Activision is demanding compensation for damages (their amount will be determined during the trial) and an injunction against illegal actions of Netflix to lure employees from competitors.

Similar cases in the pastIn 2016, Neftlix poached two Fox employees who held senior positions in the company.

Despite the fact that Fox failed to receive the required compensation, the court banned the streaming service from stealing employees from a competitor.

At the same time, last September Netflix filed an appeal to challenge the court’s decision. The company also continues to sue ViacomCBS in a similar case.

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