Netflix Sued By Fox For Luring Execs

(RTTNews) - Online movie rental service Netflix Inc. (NFLX) has been sued by Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (FOXA, FOX) for allegedly poaching two of its top executives who were under contract.

Fox filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, accusing Netflix of a "brazen campaign to unlawfully target, recruit and poach valuable Fox executives by illegally inducing them to break their employment contracts with Fox to work at Netflix."

Fox is seeking an injunction from the court that will prevent Netflix from interfering with its employment contracts, in addition to compensatory and punitive damages.

Netflix recently hired Marcos Waltenberg, Twentieth Century Fox Film's vice president of promotions, and Tara Flynn, a creative executive at Fox 21 TV Studios.

According to Fox's lawsuit, Flynn was under contract at Fox through November 2019. Waltenberg's contract with the company was due to expire at the end of 2016, but Fox had the option to extend it by two years.

In a statement, Fox said, "We filed this lawsuit because we believe Netflix is defiantly flouting the law by soliciting and inducing employees to break their contracts. We intend to seek all available remedies to enforce our rights and hold Netflix accountable for its wrongful behavior."

Netflix said it will defend the lawsuit vigorously and does not believe Fox's use of fixed term employment contracts in this manner are enforceable.

Netflix has seen strong growth after it introduced its own original programming, instead of relying on companies like Fox, Lionsgate and Universal to provide it with content for streaming videos.