A Netflix executive was fired from his $1.1 million a year job after revealing during a “trust exercise” at a work retreat that he had taken medically prescribed ketamine, a lawsuit has claimed.

Kevin Baillie, who was vice president and head of creative at Eyeline Studios, is suing the company after it launched an investigation into his comments that ultimately ended in his firing, the papers say. 

Baillie, who’s been on the visual effects team for “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the Harry Potter franchise, says he took the drug under medical supervision in October and November of 2022 at a Santa Barbara clinic.

He sought the treatment for clinical depression after the death of his mother, according to the suit.

During what’s called a “Vulnerability-Trust exercise” at a January 2026 retreat at the exclusive Sendero Ranch, a Northern California property owned by Netflix, Baillie shared with his colleagues that he had undergone the treatment, the suit says.

Baillie claims he explained the reason why he had taken the drug but was investigated by Netflix. On March 18, 2026 a company investigator brought the incident up, “in a manner suggesting suspicion of recreational drug use,” the suit reads.

The executive was fired in April with the company’s attorney confirming “the ketamine therapy issue has factored into the termination,” the papers say, and go on to suggest Baille was denied up to a year of severance pay.

Baillie says in the lawsuit the “scope” of the investigation related to alleged profanity and drinking. He had been warned during his performance review that he should “drop one or two less f-bombs but don’t stop entirely.”

It goes on to say that at the same retreat Baillie drank a Guinness standing on his head, after sharing that he had learned the trick from his former father in law during a conversation inspired by the trust session.

“His colleague immediately asked for a demonstration, rather than withhold the openness that the session had encouraged, he performed the trick,” the papers say.

Baille also paints a picture of an allegedly alcohol-fueled company environment encouraged by the Eyeline Studios CEO Jeff Shapiro.

The lawsuit alleged “alcohol consumption was company-sponsored, leadership-modeled and condoned”, with multiple examples of how Shapiro “set the cultural tone concerning alcohol at the executive level”.

The documents claimed Shapiro on one occasion purchased beer at a corner store and brought it to a company car ride to the Visual Effects Society Awards for staff to share.

Baillie claims he also witnessed the CEO consume alcohol with Netflix and Eyeline employees at his own welcome dinner in September 2024, the Netflix Annual Business Review events in March 2025 and even a Lakers game attended by Netflix execs including Shapiro’s direct supervisor in February 2026.

All up, Baillie’s attorneys provided over half a dozen examples of the CEO being present at a work event with a drink in his hand, according to court papers.

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In addition to hosting multiple parties, Shapiro also had a personal bar in his office “from which he served alcohol (to Baille) including after a successful meeting with Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos,” according to the papers.

Baillie is asking for a jury trial, compensatory damages, lost wages, damages for emotional distress, and punitive damages.

Netflix and Eyeline were contacted for comment.