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A Netflix Company Retreat Sparked a Lawsuit. Experts Say the Real Damage May Be Just Beginning
At the offsite, employees were reportedly encouraged to share personal experiences. Then, one employee lost his job
Jul 27, 2026
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A company retreat built around openness just cost one Netflix executive his job
Kevin Baillie, a former vice president and head of creative at Eyeline Studios, Netflix’s visual effects division, is suing the company after being fired, the New York Post reported
Previously, Baillie worked on visual effects for the movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Harry Potter franchise. He said he underwent physician-supervised ketamine therapy in late 2022 to treat depression following his mother’s death
At a January company retreat this year at a Netflix-owned property in California, Baillie shared this experience during a “vulnerability-trust exercise.” According to the lawsuit, Netflix later investigated his comments and fired him weeks later. A company attorney acknowledged that “the ketamine therapy issue has factored into the termination.”
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Adam Mendler, a workplace expert, told Inc. that this kind of exercise carries real risk when companies invite openness without ever clarifying how that vulnerability will be treated afterward
“A retreat may feel more relaxed than the office, but it is still a workplace, and the power dynamics don’t disappear,” he said. “If employees are encouraged to be candid and later face consequences for what they disclose, the damage to trust can extend far beyond the people involved.”
Netflix’s investigation also looked into alleged profanity and alcohol use at the same retreat, including one incident where Baillie performed a Guinness-related party trick after colleagues asked him to show it off
