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An important statement from Naughty Dog
- Thread starter Kenzodielocke
- Start date
RyanHardy101
Banned
Uhmm.. every company has to measure their words in situations like this, even if it's not true that the situation ocorred.
BassForever
Member
Too many people are looking for emotional in a cold, calculate pr statement. All the suggestions people here are making are things to make third party observers happy and would have no real impact on the actual parties involved.
Yeah no joke.
Damn, ND, I'm truly shocked you haven't heard about any claims considering Sony seems to like using hush money for stuff like this...
This is disgusting, I'd rather they just kept quiet than doing this. Admitting being a victim must be hard enough for David and now this crap.
This is an awful look for both Sony and ND, they can to fuck themselves.
I cant wait to see IMCs hot take on all this.
There is also payed vacation time to cash out. At the very least he's entitled to that no matter the conditions of his departure.
I am of course digging into this and have been since I saw the allegations yesterday while at a wedding in Rhode Island and snuck outside to send some emails. If anyone has any information on this or any other cases of alleged sexual harassment at Sony or any other game company, please don't hesitate to contact me. (jason@kotaku.com)
DarkLordMalik
Member
You truly are the hero we need.
Primethius
Banned
Hope you get to the bottom of this.
MA MAN!
I hope this triggers a chain reaction of most the disgusting filth surfacing their way to the top in the video games industry.
I would imagine a working adult would be able to tell the difference between hush money and what he is due... Come on now
CaviarMeths
Member
Thank you.
This is so necessary, thanks for digging into it. We need gaming press to be all over cases like this to ensure victims aren't dismissed and mocked.
Thank you!
semiconscious
Gold Member
thank you. this's a word that hasn't been used often enough around here of late...
boiled goose
good with gravy
Aways ask for copies that complaints were received. Always.
Also, document all incidents and make sure you get people confirming your allegations or at least your telling of allegations.
Yeah them doing some kind of "thorough" investigation in less than 24 hours seems unlikely or they should have took more time before issuing this statement to remove any doubt.
and if the rest of media takes this stance... damn, there's going to be a before/after for both Sony and ND.
my bet is someone's going to have to take it for the team
"oh yeah, there was a report but Mr. X erased and deleted it, bad boy, we fired him and the perpetrator. Everyone happy? thanks, please move on and preorder TLOU2"
JordanN
Banned
I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of employees who know something is up but wont step forward for fear of their jobs.
The Ballard guy has been at Naughty Dog for 5 years. That would be incredibly bizarre if no one saw any funny behavior all this time or never took the time to discuss it in private. Unless we're talking harassment that happened in a bathroom or outside of the workplace.
Bits N Pieces
Member
By the sounds of things the only the only way that David is going to get exonerated is if more corroborating witnesses come forward as, well fingers crossed he has given others the confidence and courage to speak out if they have been affected by something similar themselves. Don't think it'll be easy though
I have to ask. If they have no records. What more can ND do? And why intentionally hold off on a statement just to make the same one a day later? If they have no record. That's literally the end of their investigation.
Weltall Zero
Member
Weird. It's almost as if harassers didn't want to harass their victims via email or other traceable ways...
Again, optics. The better ND can frame this, the better off they are.
Pretty careless of victims when I have a sizeable collection of pictures taken the exact moment when I had my ass grabbed and similar situations :/
(Jesus Christ, some people are dense).
Fuck optics. That's all some of you are worried about. You issue a statement when you can. Especially something like this.
And again if they waited you still wouldn't be satisfied with their statement.
Japanmanx3
Member
Thank you.
oliverandm
Member
Cases like these can be devastating for both parties...
It's disgraceful if there's truth to any of it, but it's also disgraceful to forward such allegations, if they aren't true.
I find that the right thing to do is to stand neutral, until there's proof and the case can be somewhat handled just. To some extent I hope that Naughty Dog is in the right here, simply because I would find it horrific if a company I cherish has a culture that allows for this sort of behavior and considers it reasonable to close it with as lousy a sum of money as supposedly offered. It does seem awfully stupid to put forward allegations like these, if there's no truth to it, because Ballard surely would sabotage his own career then... Who would want to hire someone that's ready to frame someone like this?
I don't know. It's so damn weird. Reminds me of the twitter messages a few backs, about why devs are uneasy about speaking publicly; The industry is getting further exposed, more than ever, and it already doesn't have a good reputation in regards to work environments. This is a reputation it doesn't need.
It's disgraceful if there's truth to any of it, but it's also disgraceful to forward such allegations, if they aren't true.
I find that the right thing to do is to stand neutral, until there's proof and the case can be somewhat handled just. To some extent I hope that Naughty Dog is in the right here, simply because I would find it horrific if a company I cherish has a culture that allows for this sort of behavior and considers it reasonable to close it with as lousy a sum of money as supposedly offered. It does seem awfully stupid to put forward allegations like these, if there's no truth to it, because Ballard surely would sabotage his own career then... Who would want to hire someone that's ready to frame someone like this?
I don't know. It's so damn weird. Reminds me of the twitter messages a few backs, about why devs are uneasy about speaking publicly; The industry is getting further exposed, more than ever, and it already doesn't have a good reputation in regards to work environments. This is a reputation it doesn't need.
Optics has to be one of the most frustrating big-ticket discussion of 21st century discourse. Literally forcing every situation into one of style over substance.
Cuningas de Häme
Member
That statement is nothing. Not important in any way.
Of course they will say that they haven't found any evidence of that. It is the easy way out, and seemingly at least few people fell for it already.
Damage control at it's finest.
Of course they will say that they haven't found any evidence of that. It is the easy way out, and seemingly at least few people fell for it already.
Damage control at it's finest.
Weltall Zero
Member
Yeah, the immediate and categoric denial is what rubs me the wrong way the most. I may also be paranoid but the response feels cold and detached in a very PR way.
Good on you jason, yes we need more info and i think lots more will come up.
Also this statement from ND is just..wow saying he is lying.
Primethius
Banned
Especially in a scenario like this. Who cares if the PR statement sounds good if the end result is still the same, e.g. issue gets pushed under the rug?
Best case scenario would be that Sony/ND is actually conducting a full investigation and just flubbed the PR. But the actual PR means little in addressing the issue.
Even without tangible evidence or reports, it's likely that someone in there has heard at least rumors about it to use as basis for an actual investigation.
And if they're not going to do anything at all like it seems to be the case, they could at least claim they'll investigate and ensure that nothing of the sort happens moving forward instead of shooting down the claim and saying they've never let it happen in the past. The current statement it's awful as far as PR smoke goes.
I get what you mean, but it does make a difference. How ND addresses this will directly affect how seriously people take David's claims, which to a victim like him must matter lots.
His first game was Uncharted 2 so hes been working with ND for much longer than 5 years. Perhaps he was freelance rather than a full time time employee for part of that?
Sephiroth503
Member
Cuningas de Häme;252086189 said:
What if they actually haven't found any evidence? Is seems a lot of posters in this and the other thread have deemed ND guilty already, with no recourse to prove innocence.
Weltall Zero
Member
Indeed, and not just that, harassment can be entirely non-physical (verbal, for example), so a picture won't help you anyway. Really unless you were expecting it and secretly recorded a video, it's not exactly easy to get evidence.
Again they aren't calling anyone a liar. They are just saying they have no evidence of his allegations.
this is a far, far riskier situation for a lone employee than it is potentially damaging for ND
Fuck optics? Thats all Im worried about? Style over substance?
I see Sony defense forcing has taken an interesting new turn.
there is nothing WRONG with this statement
its an inherent issue with our legal system...im not saying the accuser is lying here, but its easy to make your statement considering you're a third party...your post would likely be very different if someone was accusing you of something without any hard evidence...
The statement doesn't say there's no evidence of the incident, it says there's no evidence of an allegation... like I understand that it's an important topic a sensitive subject but can we stop trying to misconstrue the statement? It's literally saying there's no record on file that David contacted HR.
except...thats not what they said..at all...
Bits N Pieces
Member
They don't out right call him a liar but the statement they released certainly implies that when looking at the series of tweets he posted.
In the current climate of the last week or so its a pretty poor PR response.