Netflix faces order to stop poaching Fox employees

Netflix appears to have lost a key legal hurdle over a lawsuit that accuses the streamer of nabbing employees from 21st Century Fox.

• A judge appears ready to order Netflix to stop poaching employees from Fox.
• The ruling goes back to a 2016 lawsuit filed by Fox when Marcos Waltenberg and Tara Flynn jumped to the streaming service.
• Both employees had fixed term contracts with Fox at the time.
• Netflix contends that these contracts are “unconscionable,” but a judge disagreed, calling them valid in a June ruling.
• After Netflix continued to lure employees from 21st Century Fox, the company, now owned by Disney, filed a request for a legal order to block the hirings, which a judge granted Monday, Nov. 26, 2019.
• Fox was pursuing a nominal amount of $1 in damages, though the judge ruled that the company was unable to provide enough evidence to prove damages — even just $1.
• The issue is scheduled for trial in January 2020, but it’s unlikely that it will ever be heard by a jury given the small dollar amount, reports Variety.
• Netflix, meanwhile, will likely appeal the core issue, sending the case to a higher court.