A judge Friday encouraged mediation in a lawsuit brought by a former flight attendant for Netflix Inc.’s internal air fleet, who alleges she was wrongfully fired in 2024 for reporting that a female colleague complained of sexual harassment by a male pilot.
Christine Consolino’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include wrongful termination, retaliation, sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. During a case management conference on Friday, Judge Upinder S. Kalra scheduled a post-mediation status conference for July 8, 2027, and told lawyers to file court papers regarding the status of settlement efforts no later than five days before that date.
The judge also scheduled trial for Nov. 15, 2027. In their previous court papers, Netflix attorneys denied Consolino’s allegations and alleged the plaintiff is “trying to concoct a case of purported sexual harassment” in order to avoid her obligation to arbitrate her claims.
Netflix has an in-house aviation department responsible for operating and organizing air transportation for the company in which it uses corporate jets for business-related travel. The department employees include pilots, flight attendants and other crew members.
Consolino was hired in January 2019 and throughout her employment was the highest-performing and most frequently flown attendant, consistently receiving positive performance reviews, according to the suit, which further states that as of 2022 her annual salary was $205,000.
On a work trip to Sicily in July 2023, Consolino saw that a female colleague was showing signs of distress and the woman confided in the plaintiff that she was being sexually harassed by a male crew member, the suit states.
“Plaintiff recognized the severity of the situation and made the decision to report these concerns to protect both her colleague and the integrity of the workplace,” the suit further states.
However, after receiving Cosolino’s report, a human resources representative did an inadequate investigation and took no corrective action, but the human resources representative was promoted and transferred to another department, the suit states. The alleged harasser was elevated to chief pilot, but his accuser was terminated, according to the suit.
In addition, Consolino was treated different after coming forward and in November 2023 she was the only flight attendant denied a salary increase despite being the department’s highest performer, the suit states. Consolino also was criticized about her attitude and warned that she was “skating on thin ice,” the suit further contends.
Consolino was ultimately terminated via a manager’s phone call in December 2024 “immediately upon her return from bereavement leave after her brother’s death, an action the plaintiff contends demonstrates Netflix’s “calculated timing designed to inflict maximum emotional distress during her most vulnerable moment.”
Consolino was told that she was let go because she wore shorts to a non-flight work meeting two months before her termination despite the absence of a formal dress code for non-flight operations and a longstanding practice of both male and female employees, including managers, to wear similar attire without any problem, the suit states.
The co-worker’s alleged harasser also was eventually terminated, not for his conduct with his accuser but instead for using homophobic slurs, the suit brought last Aug. 25 states.