[Omikaru]

...for sexual harassment!

Check out the source, as it's a really interesting read, but here are some choice quotes:

Witness depositions included in the case documents refer to multiple comments from Wardell to female employees about their breast and bra sizes, and one incident where he asked Miseta to attend a media tour because "[her] nipples look better on TV." They also describe a time on a media tour when Wardell's visit to the hotel room Miseta and another female colleague were sharing made Miseta feel uncomfortable. In May 2010, during a dinner on a media tour, Wardell touched Miseta's hair. It was evidently the last straw for Miseta, who, on June 6, after the media tour had ended, sent her boss an e-mail asking him to change his behavior: Please never touch my hair or any of my body parts; not even jokingly. Please do not talk about my private life or about my boyfriend/future husband in any terms especially negative terms. Please be careful with your "jokes" which are at many times inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and very embarrassing not only to me, but everyone present. Please keep your negative personal opinions of others (including family members and/or coworkers) not present at the time of your comments, to yourself. I feel, at times, it puts me in a very uncomfortable position. With the above few behavioral changes, I'm hoping our previously friendly and professional relationship can be reestablished. Wardell's reply began cordially, "Thank you for bringing these up to me as I certainly do not want you to feel uncomfortable at work." He promised to be more careful in the future regarding items one and two, but then continued: #3, however is not acceptable to me. I am an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and embarrassing person and I'm not inclined to change my behavior. If this is a problem, you need to find another job. #4, Again, I am not willing to adapt my behavior to suit others. If you find my behavior problematic, I recommend finding another job. I'm not some manager or coworker of yours. I own the company. It, and your job there, exist to suit my purposes, not vice versa. The company is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end which is to further the objectives of its shareholders (in this case, me).

It took until this summer for the court to hear oral arguments about the motion to dismiss. On July 13 of this year, Judge Robert Ziolkowski heard the arguments and denied the motion to dismiss. Miseta vs. Wardell will go to trial, though a date has not yet been set. Attorneys representing Stardock filed the complaint of Stardock vs. Miseta on July 30, less than three weeks later.

Miseta's attorney told Kotaku, "It is our opinion that Mr. Wardell's lawsuit against Ms. Miseta for allegedly deleting files, etc., is baseless and was brought solely in retaliation for her sexual harassment lawsuit. We firmly believe that Ms. Miseta's leaving Stardock had absolutely nothing to do with any failures pertaining to Stardock's release of Elemental. It is our further belief that Mr. Wardell has publicly admitted that the failures of Elemental were due solely to his actions and/or inactions."

Searched and couldn't find this posted anywhere.

Sounds like Wardell is a big douche, but obviously he hasn't given his side of the story. Either way, from what we know, he's a pig.

Update: Wardell has posted his side of the story here (thanks alstein).

Ok, I'm going to respond here since I'm being directly accused of something. The incident that started this happened back in 2010. Myself, Alexandra, and a few others were at a pub while waiting to go to the Qt3 dinner that Lloyd case had set up. While there, Alexandra got teased and got mad. At the time, i didn't realize she was so upset about it. So we went to the Qt3 get together (that some here may have even been at) and that. She later emailed me telling me she was mad about the incident - to which I apologized for hurting her feeligs but also insisted that I watch what jokes I tell around the office. (To understand the context, we're a relaxed software company, lots of Family guy jokes, Simpsons references, Robot Chicken references, etc.). To which I responded, admittedly, very very harshly to. Now, you can argue that I was a jerk in how I responded to her. But it does not justify her getting pissed off, quitting without notice and using her network access to wipe out our marketing assets 3 weeks before the ship of the game forcing me and a few other key team members to scramble at the last second to deal with it. In addition, I would ask those who are so quick to condemn me personally to ask themselves this - what impact do you think it would have on your team if a key person quit, wiped out a bunch of stuff and made a bunch of legal theats? Think of the effect it would have around the office. NO one has suggested that if she hadn't done this that Elemental would have been a great game. But there is a huge gulf between having a "great game" and a "total disaster". The ultimate blame for the game's failure lies with me for reasons I've stated countless times. But that doesn't excuse someone from maliciously and intentionally wiping out years worth of marketing data, assets, etc. And the charge that this is "retaliatory" is ridiculous and, frankly, offensive to not just me but virtually everyone here at Stardock - who I can assure you are at least as pissed off as I was about what she did. The only thing that has recently changed is that our case against her got moved to federal court and that we have continued our position of not settling her frivolous case.

[Curufinwe]

Not that surprising given what we knew of Wardell already.

Sexual harassment laws don't apply to me because I own the company!

[wutwutwut]

Assuming this is true, I don't think "if you don't like sexual harassment, get another job" is going to fly in US court.

[Woo-Fu]

How far down the rabbit hole is this saga going to take us?

[HoosTrax]

How does his wife, if he has one, put up with all that douchyness, I wonder.

[alstein]

He has a wife and kids.

If this is true, I feel like a complete douchebag for defending this guy for so long. I believed he was one of the good, especially when it came to female employees.

I'm going to let the legal process play it before writing him off- but if this is even half-true, I'm done with Stardock.

[U n i o n 0015]

It honestly blows my mind what people will write in e-mail. That shit can be used against you at any time in the future.

And the guy sounds like a massive douche.

[Stallion Free]

How far down the rabbit hole is this saga going to take us?

Elemental is the gift that keeps on giving.

[Odrion]

fire this man

[Hari Seldon]

Wow what a fucking douchebag if true, and it sounds pretty much like she is going to destroy him in court if those emails are legit.

[Talon]

Brad Wardell? What have you done???

[Omikaru]

Wow what a fucking douchebag if true, and it sounds pretty much like she is going to destroy him in court if those emails are legit.

Yup. Explains the "counter" lawsuit too. I hope he's punished by the court for that and all; wasting court time and money to intimidate someone who is suing him should be harshly punished.

[Interfectum]

#3, however is not acceptable to me. I am an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and embarrassing person and I'm not inclined to change my behavior. If this is a problem, you need to find another job. #4, Again, I am not willing to adapt my behavior to suit others. If you find my behavior problematic, I recommend finding another job. I'm not some manager or coworker of yours. I own the company. It, and your job there, exist to suit my purposes, not vice versa. The company is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end which is to further the objectives of its shareholders (in this case, me).

Wow...

[CambriaRising]

Yup. Explains the "counter" lawsuit too. I hope he's punished by the court for that and all; wasting court time and money to intimidate someone who is suing him should be harshly punished.

It is usually just scoffed at and thrown out by the judge.

[Glix]

How does his wife, if he has one, put up with all that douchyness, I wonder.

$$$$

[alstein]

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...&postcount=187

Brad Wardell's side of this.

[EuroMIX]

What do Stardock make? I'm not sure I've ever heard of them.

[Omikaru]

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...&postcount=187 Brad Wardell's side of this.

Will edit this into the OP, thanks.

[Talon]

What do Stardock make? I'm not sure I've ever heard of them.

Judging by your avatar, they're probably not your cup of tea.

[Screaming_Gremlin]

What do Stardock make? I'm not sure I've ever heard of them.

Galactic Civilization 2 (which is awesome) and they published Sins of Solar Empire (also amazing) and Demigod. They also developed Elemental, which is a terrible game.

[Hari Seldon]

What do Stardock make? I'm not sure I've ever heard of them.

I'm a pretty hardcore PC gamer and nothing that I care to play, but they do publish Sins of a Solar Empire, which is better than anything that Stardock themselves do.

[EuroMIX]

Judging by your avatar, they're probably not your cup of tea.

Why?

Also, when I heard the name it instantly reminded me of this: http://stardock.com/

Same company? If so I might have heard of them after all. I know they make a kind of dock for Windows similar to the one Mac's have.

[Jay-B]

"Now, you can argue that I was a jerk in how I responded to her."

What a disgusting scumbag.

[HoosTrax]

Game catalog-wise, Stardock is kind of like a smaller, more sci-fi / fantasy oriented version of Paradox, with an emphasis on PC strategy games.

And yes, it's the exact same company behind WindowBlinds, and it's the same company that owned Impulse which was sold to Gamestop.

[Screaming_Gremlin]

Why? Also, when I heard the name it instantly reminded me of this: http://stardock.com/ Same company? If so I might have heard of them after all. I know they make a kind of dock for Windows similar to the one Mac's have.

Yeah, it is the same company. They used to also have a Steam-like service called Impulse before they sold it to Game Stop.

I'm a pretty hardcore PC gamer and nothing that I care to play, but they do publish Sins of a Solar Empire, which is better than anything that Stardock themselves do.

I would put Galactic Civ 2 up against Sins. It is a great 4X game, especially after the expansions and patches. But beyond that I would agree that Sins is better than anything else they developed.

[Talon]

Why? Also, when I heard the name it instantly reminded me of this: http://stardock.com/ Same company? If so I might have heard of them after all. I know they make a kind of dock for Windows similar to the one Mac's have.

They make mostly PC 4X and strategy games.

[Omikaru]

What a disgusting scumbag.

Pretty much how I feel. His side of the story changes nothing in my eyes. I hope Miseta wins against this pig.

[kuroshiki]

He has a wife and kids. If this is true, I feel like a complete douchebag for defending this guy for so long. I believed he was one of the good, especially when it came to female employees. I'm going to let the legal process play it before writing him off- but if this is even half-true, I'm done with Stardock.

How does it feel? I'm genuinely interested.

[jcm]

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...&postcount=187 Brad Wardell's side of this.

LOL. He's talking about the case on damned message board? His lawyer must be flipping the fuck out right now.

[Jackpot]

I find this bit equally important as his "I'm sexist, blow me" comments.

Witness statements confirm there was no "3 week delay" caused by moving people to handle missing marketing materials.

Witness statements found in the response from Miseta's attorneys, however, contradict the claim. One employee specifically testified in her deposition that Miseta gave her a week's advance notice that she would be leaving Stardock, so that she "knew where [Miseta's] files were" and had access to relevant Google docs. Others had no recollection of Wardell or HR manager Angela Marshall (Wardell's sister-in-law) ever mentioning missing documents causing trouble with Elemental. A former Stardock employee, speaking with Kotaku on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that a mere two weeks before launch, Elemental had many technical issues that had nothing to do with its marketing. The employee also added that at the time, nobody mentioned any materials having gone missing or any sabotage having taken place and showed Kotaku communications from Wardell that indicated satisfaction with how Miseta's staff replacement was taking over the review kit and review guide process.

[EuroMIX]

They make mostly PC 4X and strategy games.

I wouldn't trust my avatar to tell you the types of games I play (see his grin? He lies!). I have played some strategy games in my time, surprisingly. I am shocked that I've never come across the term 4X before now and I wasn't aware of any of the games this company makes. I'm such a bad nerd. :/

But, yeah, this guy sounds like a right scumbag.

[Victrix]

LOL. He's talking about the case on damned message board? His lawyer must be flipping the fuck out right now.

Not the first time he's done this

Brad Wardell, a new and improved Cleve Blakemore for the 21st century

[undu]

I am an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and embarrassing person and I'm not inclined to change my behavior. If this is a problem, you need to find another job.

Good to know.

Every time I hear something about Brad is worse than before, how does he do it? :/

[Hari Seldon]

I wouldn't trust my avatar to tell you the types of games I play (see his grin? He lies!). I have played some strategy games in my time, surprisingly. I am shocked that I've never come across the term 4X before now and I wasn't aware of any of the games this company makes. I'm such a bad nerd. :/ But, yeah, this guy sounds like a right scumbag.

I would recommend giving Sins a shot. It was PC GOTY material.

[Uthred]

LOL. He's talking about the case on damned message board? His lawyer must be flipping the fuck out right now.

That was literally what I was thinking. How fucking stupid can he be?

[HoosTrax]

This is like watching a trainwreck in progress.

[thehillissilent]

That was literally what I was thinking. How fucking stupid can he be?

Yeah, he's still replying to people on quartertothree forums. i can't believe it myself.

[eot]

LOL. He's talking about the case on damned message board? His lawyer must be flipping the fuck out right now.

He seems to say a lot of stupid things there.
Remember this one?

Also, to anyone, like you Ben, saying the game is like an "early beta" then well, please stay away from our games in the future. I consider it ready for release and if others disagree, don't buy our games.

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...postcount=2431

[iammeiam]

That was literally what I was thinking. How fucking stupid can he be?

Anybody stupid enough to put in an email "I'm gonna sexually harass whoever I want, if you don't like it quit." in an email has to be pretty damned stupid. And I'm pretty sure basically telling an employee to put up with your shit or quit is a pretty good reason for said employee to quit.

[wutwutwut]

Anybody stupid enough to put in an email "I'm gonna sexually harass whoever I want, if you don't like it quit." in an email has to be pretty damned stupid. And I'm pretty sure basically telling an employee to put up with your shit or quit is a pretty good reason for said employee to quit.

And take the employer to court. The notion of protected groups exists throughout the world.

[Shark Johnson]

Well, I guess him being an ass is totally an excuse for destroying all those marketing materials!

[RiggenBlaque]

Yeah, he's still replying to people on quartertothree forums. i can't believe it myself.

Some serious Derek Smart vibes coming on here

[thehillissilent]

Brad is trying to defend himself in the forums now by posting the end of the ridiculous email.

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...&postcount=201

I’m not some manager or coworker of yours. I own the company. It, and your job there, exist to suit my purposes, not vice versa. The company is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end which is to further the objectives of its shareholders (in this case, me). While I certainly agree that your rights as a person (certainly in terms of physical contact or in terms of comments made towards you regarding your private life) take precedence over my rights as the owner of the business, that is as far as it goes. I sincerely apologize for offending you while on our trip. I certainly would never intentionally try to upset you or make you uncomfortable and will endeavor to avoid doing so in the future. However, I won’t change my basic personality to suit anyone (i.e. being an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and embarrassing person).

Here is his excuse for posting in the forums:

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...&postcount=206

It doesn't really matter now. She's resorted to trying the case in the media. People don't do that if their case is going well. She's releasing this stuff in the hopes that people will just take her word for everything and follow sensational stories so that we'll pay her to go away.

[Woo-Fu]

Brad Wardell? What have you done???

At this point it might be easier to ask, "What haven't you done."

[Holy Crap]

I love this industry. So scandalous!

[Hari Seldon]

This was a pretty damming accusation reported by Kotaku if true:

Court records from the lawsuit show several troubling messages from Wardell to Miseta, as well as allegations of problematic in-person behavior. E-mail messages included in the records go back as far as March, 2008, and include a link to a sexually explicit YouTube video, a comment that Miseta was chosen to go to a conference "not just because you're 'hot'," and a 100-question "purity test" that he asked her to take and then send him her score from. The purity test includes questions like, "Have you engaged in group sex?," "Have you engaged in intercourse with an unconscious person, while conscious?," and, "Have you had anal intercourse?"

Man he is fucked.

[scy]

I feel like I should buy Elemental as a thank you for this on-going saga.

[RyanDG]

I feel like I should buy Elemental as a thank you for this on-going saga.

At this point, you can basically just consider it an investment towards the employee's eventual payment after the jury rules against Wardell or he decides to pay her off.

[thehillissilent]

Brad is still trying to justify himself on a forum no less. His lawyer is probably real pissed off right now.

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-t...&postcount=213

It is not illegal to be a sexist, vulgar, inappropriate person. It's not even illegal to be racist. It's only illegal to act on those things. Incidentally, every witness deposed was asked "Is Brad Wardell a sexist, vulgar, inappropriate person" and said no. I don't really think I'm a sexist, vulgar, inappropriate person in the objective sense. You've all seen my posts here for over a decade now. The point I was making was that as far as she was concerned, my jokes could be all those things and more. But she does not have the right tell me how I can behave at work in general. The example that came up during discovery is this: If someone says to me, "Please don't use profanity around me." I would say "Sorry, I won't do that around you." But if they say "And don't use profanity around the office either." I'd say "You don't have the right to tell me that, it's my company and if I want to swear around the office I will." Now, people online will make snap jdugments on what they think juries are going to do or not do. But a jury is going to be hearing testimony for multiple days on this kind of thing -- people who were deposed or have sworn statements about what the environment here is. It's not a hostile environment. But if someone thinks a culture that likes to quote Monty Python skits, Simpsons references, Family Guy espisode and Robot Chicken jokes is going to change to their their needs, they're wrong. Even if they think those things are sexist, vulgar, and inappropriate.

[eot]

At this point, you can basically just consider it an investment towards the employee's eventual payment after the jury rules against Wardell or he decides to pay her off.

He seems to think otherwise, calling the lawsuit 'frivolous'