Netflix accused by Fox of `audacious’ poaching as trial looms

A lawyer for a pair of Fox studios described Netflix Inc.’s hiring of 17 Fox executives as “very audacious” as the companies head toward a trial in a high-profile fight over talent poaching.

The dispute has intensified after the defection of two Fox executives was followed by another 15, the attorney said at a hearing Wednesday. A California state judge issued a tentative ruling that the suit brought in 2016 by the Fox studios, now owned by Walt Disney Co., must go to a jury trial.

“This is a very serious issue,” lawyer Daniel Petrocelli told the judge. “They are very audacious about it.”

Karen Johnson-McKewan, a lawyer for Netflix, responded that Fox’s reaction feels “a little like crocodile tears.”