Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) hires people to watch its programs, who are then required to choose the best still images and videos to aptly represent many of its offerings, and the process is known as “Project Beetlejuice.” The job appears cool. However, the Hollywood Reporter reports that two of the people hired for the process are now suing the streaming company.
Class-action lawsuits against Netflix
Netflix has two putative class-action lawsuits filed against it in California. Lawrence Moss, a Long Beach resident, filed one of them in November, while Los Angeles resident Cigdem Akbay filed the other in May, the website says.
Moss and Akbay argue that the members of the secret “Project Beetlejuice” often had to work for more than 40 hours a week and therefore should be paid more money than the $10-a-program fee. They also claim that they had been mis-categorized as contractors instead of employees. The two are asking for overtime, holidays, health insurance, paid vacation and a 401(k) plan, the report says.
Akbay said that on a regular basis, she used to work more than 40 hours a week with a “rigid work schedule” that company deadlines dictated. In 2014, she was fired after she told the company’s management that “Project Beetlejuice” had become her primary source of income.
“Theoretically, [Akbay] could set her own hours, but Netflix imposed deadlines for assignments that in effect imposed a rigid work schedule,” the complaint reads.
Netflix has not provided any details about the project, such as why it named it “Project Beetlejuice,” how many workers are involved in the program or any other work details. Such suits filed against Netflix are similar to those ones filed against Uber and GrubHub alleging them of misclassifying workers as contractors.
A Netflix representative told Business Insider that the company chooses to remain silent when it comes to active litigation.
A big hit in Canada
In other Netflix news, the company launched its service in Canada in 2010 and over the years has grown to capture almost 50% of the population watching TV. The number of cord-cutters in Canada exceeded the number in America last year, and the credit for that goes to Netflix.
Solution Research Group found that almost half of Canadians used Netflix’s streaming service in the past month, reported CBC News. SRG, a digital consultancy based in Toronto, released its quarterly “Digital Life Canada” report showing that about 5.2 million households in Canada have Netflix subscriptions.
