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Former Naughty Dog employee says he was sexually harassed by a lead in late 2015

L

leehom

Member
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
 
E

endlessflood

Member
I'm not familiar with American industrial relations law, but even if you take the sexual harassment out of the equation completely, wouldn't the termination still be illegal? He says he had a mental breakdown at work and HR was involved prior to the sexual harassment claims even being made; if they then go and immediately fire him isn't that against the law? Unless when he said he had a mental breakdown he doesn't mean a mental health problem, but rather that he threw a chair at someone or something.
 
P

Phu

Banned
leehom said:
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
Click to expand...

Get outta here with this shit. It's not fucking odd at all.
 
M

Mooreberg

is sharpening a shovel and digging a ditch
I am failing to comprehend the random numbers, but hopefully whoever is responsible is fired or sued.. or both.
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Sony corporate culture being shit to employees, not surprised in the least. How far up the chain did this go?

I also wonder how often this actually is in the industry and people just dont want to say
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
leehom said:
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
Click to expand...
He sort of explained his reasoning for coming out now, which you either didn't read in your rush to discredit it or you did read and are ignoring in your fervor to defend it.
 
M

McDougles

Member
leehom said:
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
Click to expand...

Many sides, many sides.
 
F

Famassu

Member
Abelard said:
Sorry for the late reply, but its because in those cases there were multiple allegations coming out at once and thus seemed more credible. In this case? There is just one guy so while there is a chance he was sexually harassed, there is an equal amount of chance he was not. The fact that he was fired... there is a missing link there but I will refrain from commenting or drawing further conclusions until evidence of some sort is provided.

And I don't mean to sound cold or anything, ultimately workplace harassment is a terrible thing but as someone who has been witness to a case of false allegations of sexual harassment and has seen how that can ruin one's life/reputation, I think a healthy dose of skepticism is always required. Treat this as you would any other allegation, as of now Naughty Dog and Sony are innocent because they have yet to be proven guilty of anything.

Either way I think its best to maintain a neutral stance until further information/statements surface.
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You might've been witness to such, but you've got to remember that those represent a small fraction of accusations. Those aren't anywhere near of being common vs. real accusations. False accusations of sexual harassment & assault are more like a 1 or 2 out of a 100 thing, not something like 40 out of 100.
 
W

wumster3000

Member
leehom said:
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
Click to expand...
You should read his statement.

As stated by many, this is extremely difficult on the person. We have no idea how he felt during that 17 months span. Until you have been through it or know someone that has, you will never understand how hard it is to address it. Naughty Dog and Sony are beloved companies and as you can tell by this thread, people get defensive when you speak negatively about a company that they love.

I think a lot of people should do some research on the difficulty of speaking out on being harassed. It’s extremely difficult. I’m saying this from experience. I wasn’t sexually harassed but I was harassed for 5 months or so before I said anything. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I felt terrible for the person and not for myself - even though I was being harassed and bullied.
 
M

Memento

Member
One question though: why didnt he exposed the name of the person that harrassed him?

I honestly think it is way more detrimental the way he did. "A company lead". The witch hunt will go full force now and people that dont have anything to do with it can have their lives and reputation destroyed by the internet.

Just say the name. You already took the courage, expose the piece of shit.
 
S

Scher

Member
leehom said:
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
Click to expand...

It is not odd at all that he would take so long to speak out about being harassed. If anything, the surprise is that he would even speak up about it at all. It takes a lot of bravery to speak out about these kinds of issues.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
Alienfan said:
Sony/Naughty Dog will be preparing a response for Monday no doubt
Click to expand...

I sincerely doubt they'll treat this with any level of respect if they're just going to throw some "shut up" money at David to make it go away instead of actually getting to the problem.

HR in major game studios absolutely does not take any actual interest in the well-being of their employees. Instead, they're merely a legal buffer for the company to deal with an employee to not appear hostile, but that's about it. A friend of mine had to deal with EA HR a while back in regards to harassment, and they couldn't give a less of a shit about their problems.
 
L

L Thammy

Member
The most dastardly part of his plan was to admit that he was unemployed for seventeen months, because only a fool would expect us to believe an accusation like this from someone who was unemployed for seventeen months.
 
L

Loudninja

Member
Memento said:
One question though: why didnt he exposed the name of the person that harrassed him?

I honestly think it is way more detrimental the way he did. "A company lead". The witch hunt will go full force now and people that dont have anything to do with it can have their lives and reputation destroyed by the internet.

Just say the name. You already took the courage, expose the piece of shit.
Click to expand...
It not the simple as it been explain before.
 
M

MoonFrog

Member
L Thammy said:
The most dastardly part of his plan was to admit that he was unemployed for seventeen months, because only a fool would expect us to believe an accusation like this from someone who was unemployed for seventeen months.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I'm reading way too much into it but when he talks about having to brush aside his reason for leaving ND in interviews it just sounds like the firing not only took his job but is helping to prevent him from getting another.

It sounds like being unable to adequately explain leaving your last job is a blemish on your credentials.

Then again, maybe this "burnt out" explanation goes over better than I'm assuming.
 
D

dragonbane

Member
Memento said:
One question though: why didnt he exposed the name of the person that harrassed him?

I honestly think it is way more detrimental the way he did. "A company lead". The witch hunt will go full force now and people that dont have anything to do with it can have their lives and reputation destroyed by the internet.

Just say the name. You already took the courage, expose the piece of shit.
Click to expand...
If he has no concrete proof as is often the case with sexual harassment he could get taken to court for slander for exposing the person
 
L

leehom

Member
Gotta love the internet and society. It's always the person who makes the first claim that is usually considered right, because people never ever lie or stretch the truth.

I used to work in corporate and this female who cursed out a supervisor claimed it was me. All these rumors spread about how I did it, but when I met with that supervisor the next day and asked him what happened. He said it was her that did it. Naturally, nothing happened to me, but it didn't stop people from thinking I was the culprit.

That is why I'm not quick to judge like most people until both sides of the story are heard.
 
R

RSTEIN

Comics, serious business!
leehom said:
If true, this is disgusting, but lets wait and hear both sides before jumping the gun? If there is any merit to this persons' allegations, it should put enough pressure on ND to fire the harasser.

Isn't it odd that this person decides to come out after being unemployed for 17 months?
Click to expand...

Dude wtf. Look what’s happening now in Hollywood. Jolie, Paltrow, beckinsale, hayter, others, harassed over the past decade+ are just coming out against Weinstein.

Your “isn’t it odd” questioning is a big reason why people do not step forward.
 
N

nel e nel

Member
endlessflood said:
I'm not familiar with American industrial relations law, but even if you take the sexual harassment out of the equation completely, wouldn't the termination still be illegal? He says he had a mental breakdown at work and HR was involved prior to the sexual harassment claims even being made; if they then go and immediately fire him isn't that against the law? Unless when he said he had a mental breakdown he doesn't mean a mental health problem, but rather that he threw a chair at someone or something.
Click to expand...

Not really. Most of the US is considered "at will" employment, which means you can quit - or be fired - at any time for any reason, or no reason at all. Sony saying they reorganized and his position was no longer needed is within their right. The burden of proof of sexual harassment would be on the accuser.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
leehom said:
Gotta love the internet and society. It's always the person who makes the first claim that is usually considered right, because people never ever lie or stretch the truth.

I used to work in corporate and this female who cursed out a supervisor claimed it was me. All these rumors spread about how I did it, but when I met with that supervisor the next day and asked him what happened. He said it was her that did it. Naturally, nothing happened to me, but it didn't stop people from thinking I was the culprit.

That is why I'm not quick to judge like most people until both sides of the story are heard.
Click to expand...

So, like

If someone not involved with your situation commented about your suspicious motivations, you wouldn't feel offended at all, I'm guessing?
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
leehom said:
Gotta love the internet and society. It's always the person who makes the first claim that is usually considered right, because people never ever lie or stretch the truth.

I used to work in corporate and this female who cursed out a supervisor claimed it was me. All these rumors spread about how I did it, but when I met with that supervisor the next day and asked him what happened. He said it was her that did it. Naturally, nothing happened to me, but it didn't stop people from thinking I was the culprit.

That is why I'm not quick to judge like most people until both sides of the story are heard.
Click to expand...
This guy has nothing to gain by coming forward.
 
M

MoonFrog

Member
leehom said:
Gotta love the internet and society. It's always the person who makes the first claim that is usually considered right, because people never ever lie or stretch the truth.

I used to work in corporate and this female who cursed out a supervisor claimed it was me. All these rumors spread about how I did it, but when I met with that supervisor the next day and asked him what happened. He said it was her that did it. Naturally, nothing happened to me, but it didn't stop people from thinking I was the culprit.

That is why I'm not quick to judge like most people until both sides of the story are heard.
Click to expand...

We don't even have another side here. It is an anonymous lead at ND. There is no particular person that is being called out here.

People aren't 'rushing to convict a person.' People are talking about the experience this man claims to have had and how bad it is. They are trying to be supportive of a person coming out about something that is difficult to talk about and something that we should have a vested interest in coming out when it does happen.
 
G

GLAMr

Member
Why was Sony HR handling a ND sexual harassment issue?

I'm not trying to scrutinise or cast doubt on the victims story; I'm legitimately ignorant of how/why this would happen.
 
L

Lnds500

Member
GLAMr said:
Why was Sony HR handling a ND sexual harassment issue?

I'm not trying to scrutinise or cast doubt on the victims story; I'm legitimately ignorant of how/why this would happen.
Click to expand...

You mean as opposed to a department inside ND? Maybe they don't have one and Sony is doing this kind of stuff for its subsidiaries.
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
Evilore sexually harasses women and post nude revenge porn pics:

https://imgur.com/a/eBPYm
http://abload.de/image.php?img=are_these_naked_pics_pju55.png
http://archive.is/ALgQC
https://archive.li/vmQ4y
http://archive.is/RYK2m#selection-873.0-873.452
https://archive.is/9EHoW#selection-101.1-40.5
https://archive.is/FtjuX#selection-8234.1-8315.517

evillorenutincident.jpg
 
O

Opto

Banned
No evidence at all? No corroborating testimony? No behavioral red flags? So far this is nothing like other recent industry scandals.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
GLAMr said:
Why was Sony HR handling a ND sexual harassment issue?

I'm not trying to scrutinise or cast doubt on the victims story; I'm legitimately ignorant of how/why this would happen.
Click to expand...
ND isn't an independent company. They're part of Sony, and as such, it is Sony's legal and HR departments that deal with matters like this.
 
G

GLAMr

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
Sony owns ND. ND employees are Sony employees.
Click to expand...
Shaanyboi said:
ND isn't an independent company. They're part of Sony, and as such, it is Sony's legal and HR departments that deal with matters like this.
Click to expand...
Ah, cheers. That clears that up. I thought ND was owned by Activision Blizzard for some reason.

What a shitty thing to happen. I hope this all gets resolved, with guilty parties being appropriately brought to justice.
 
F

Famassu

Member
leehom said:
Gotta love the internet and society. It's always the person who makes the first claim that is usually considered right, because people never ever lie or stretch the truth.
Click to expand...
You've got to be fucking kidding me. People who come out are often harassed, ignored & blacklisted even more for doing so, especially if it's about some publicly loved figure/entity (like Naughty Dog or popular actor). The reason so few harassed speak out is because of the all too real possibility of a potential backlash & negative consequences in their lives. Even if you speak true and there are consequences for the sexual harasser/assaulter, a lot of workplaces will look at you as a troublemaker who shouldn't be hired because you speak out about issues like that. And no business wants that. They like their silent sheep who don't cause trouble.
 
M

Mrbob

Member
So sexual harassment is claimed and then fired the next day with a 20k silence payment attempted. Curious whom at Sony made this call because there are so many mistakes here.
 
J

JollyWolf

Member
Famassu said:
You've got to be fucking kidding me. People who come out are often harassed, ignored & blacklisted even more for doing so, especially if it's about some publicly loved figure/entity (like Naughty Dog or popular actor). The reason so few harassed speak out is because of the all too real possibility of a potential backlash & negative consequences in their lives. Even if you speak true and there are consequences for the sexual harasser/assaulter, a lot of workplaces will look at you as a troublemaker who shouldn't be hired because you speak out about issues like that. And no business wants that. They like their silent sheep who don't cause trouble.
Click to expand...

So I suppose it's guilty until proven innocent?
 
pixelation

pixelation

Member
Memento said:
One question though: why didnt he exposed the name of the person that harrassed him?

I honestly think it is way more detrimental the way he did. "A company lead". The witch hunt will go full force now and people that dont have anything to do with it can have their lives and reputation destroyed by the internet.

Just say the name. You already took the courage, expose the piece of shit.
Click to expand...

This, sooo much this.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Memento said:
One question though: why didnt he exposed the name of the person that harrassed him?

I honestly think it is way more detrimental the way he did. "A company lead". The witch hunt will go full force now and people that dont have anything to do with it can have their lives and reputation destroyed by the internet.

Just say the name. You already took the courage, expose the piece of shit.
Click to expand...

To some extent, it's the same reason people didn't just "name" Harvey Weinstein. He's an unemployed ex-dev. This person is a lead at one of the biggest developers in the world. Without any real proof it's the word of one person against another, and the other has considerably more resources at their disposal.
 
F

FlutterPuffs

Member
I would love to hear from the other side too, but that doesn't mean one should treat this with indifference.

Hopefully more information comes out of this, and if the guy ain't lying, he gets his dues.
 
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