CalamityPixel
Member
Jesus.
They tried to hide it.
They tried to hide it.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Former Naughty Dog employee says he was sexually harassed by a lead in late 2015
- Thread starter chadskin
- Start date
charlequin
Banned
If it makes you feel better, their treatment of their employees is some of the worst in the industry in other areas as well.
I'm glad positive action has been taken against people at your company but I am extremely doubtful this is actually an across-the-board truth for how harassment is handled. The incentive to protect powerful employees is much too strong to push back against with anything but absolute, constant vigilance from the top down.
True enough.
Women can be the harassers as well.
entremet
Member
What specifically?
It will trigger a hefty reaction with the nerds probably going at the guy for coming out with his story of being sexually harassed.
FullMetaltech
Member
That's terrible. The fact that they were trying to bribe him to stay quiet and not deal with the situation is disgusting.
MarkMclovin
Member
Disgusting from both Sony and Naughty dog.
The fact he hasn't been able to get a job since is pretty bad too.
The fact he hasn't been able to get a job since is pretty bad too.
RichiRamjag
Member
Its terrible despite the gender. I dont see why that needs to be pointed out here specifically.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
Absolutely DISGUSTING behavior by Sony responding to the situation the way they did.
mocolostrocolos
Member
The sad truth.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
I know they can, that doesn't really change what I said though. Just looking at the broader picture.
Funyarinpa
Member
It's not just males pulling this shit. You have two people in this very thread who spoke out as victims of female assailants. I think there's a deeper cultural thought process here that leads to this. Male entitlement, etc. all plays into part of the issue in general, sure, but you have female abusers too and that tells us that there's a broader reason.
Oh, I completely agree.
It's easier to sweep it under the rug. It's easier just to pay a couple thousand dollars and make it go away, even if you have to do it dozens of times. It's easier to keep the harasser in charge if they're difficult to replace, have connections, have had a long tenure, and so on.
But the second a company supports their HR department and the HR department gives a damn is the second a culture can turn around. I would guess that a lot of people in these HR departments actually do care and they do want to change the culture, but it's incredibly difficult without the support of the people in charge.
Sony needs to do some serious reflection.
Dice//
Banned
It does suck for both genders. It happens more frequently to women and sadly women are lower on the food chain generally by not getting the same amount of opportunities to advance as men do. But it does suck for both genders. Unwanted sexual advancement is fucking terrible to deal with, during or even with whatever follows afters (generally you're pretty 'shook up'-- and that's just putting it lightly)
CalamityPixel
Member
Sony tried silencing him, best thing to do is get the word out and spread before he tries anything in court.
entremet
Member
Cost money to sue. And it may not even be successful.
To people who say that they're saddened that "even naughty dog" has people who do this: think of your most favourite, seemingly nice family values corporation. Even that corporation has this. This thing is EVERYWHERE. Absolutely everywhere in all corners of life. I assume each and every game studio (except small indies) has at least one person like this to some degree.
Theslammer
Member
I mean, unless this involved the writers and game directors, it's not that weird. If something like this happened at my job, I'm not guilty by association.
ArkhamFantasy
Member
Wtf sony.
The guy harassing was a lead, so hw was worth more. Sadly it seems to have been this cynical...
Absolutely revolting, this brings shame to ND and SONY. I hope they come out and clear the situation by working with the guy to repair things as much as possible. It just boggles my mind that people are capable of these things.
Especially not against a corporation.
that has literally nothing to do with the problem of sexual harassment. it is a systemic problem where abusers are protected and victims are punished because of the power differential between management/capital and labor.
this is why you see it happen at conservative fox news and in "liberal" hollywood in exactly the same ways. the people who have been doing this for years have all the leverage and power, they can make or break careers, and speaking out brings not only professional repercussions but personal torment.
it is an issue that can only be fixed by collective action, and the attitudes of self-sufficiency and libertarianism that the games industry in particular cultivates in order to exploit labor will only make this worse as time goes on.
joecanada
Member
I mean hush money is crazy bad but what's with the amount too? Like a simple person might say wow 20k but that was probably what a third , quarter of that person's annual salary and they never found another job .... Amount was laughably low.
CalamityPixel
Member
So Sony is a giant Milkshake Duck?
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Read my post above. I know it isn't. However, in an industry dominated by men the way videogames are, I think you'll come across cases of sexual harassment at Dev studios for more common than you'd like to think.
Which is why I'm glad there's momentum against harassers. Companies need to understand that there are no incentives for protecting harassers.
I'm just worried about GamerGate rearing their ugly heads. They joined hands with the anti-harassment movement because they saw it as a "HAHA TAKE THAT LIBRULS" kinda thing, but what will happen when their precious industry is held accountable?
True, but I believe the intimidation factor is bigger within the entertainment industries because reputation and image is everything. When a 'nice' celebrity does something reprehensible, the victims are more likely to be forced into silence and not taken seriously. Case in point, Jimmy Savile.
It takes greater courage to name a prominent person within the entertainment industry. Props to David, and I hope more victims feel encouraged to come forward.
Should have specified '2017'...
DasPenguin
Member
That's the usual or typical move by any bigger company, unfortunately.
Funyarinpa
Member
I didn't imply this incident immediately implicates all ND employees, but I'm just worried (perhaps unduly curious?) about how known this was among Naughty Dog.
I understand what you're saying, and I agree completely. I am just wondering if this is similar to the Alamo Drafthouse case where people all across the corporate ladder collaborated to assist a known sexual predator, or if it is a more isolated incident known by few people.
No one's saying it's not terrible, or that it's worse for males or females. One person just commented he can imagine how women put up with it everyday, and people interpreted it wrongly so I just clarified his message.
the root of the problem is that lower level employees have no power in these situations, and the industry is never going to address that because it's how they're able to exploit people in terms of money and work conditions
On one hand, I'm glad the floodgates are open and people are gaining the courage to speak out against the rampant sexual misconduct present in their industies.
On the other hand, there's gonna be many sickening and unfortunate accounts coming out, and even with this wave of people speaking up it could still only be the tip of the iceberg. This type of behavior needs to come to an end.
David here didn't take the hush money, but thinking of the potential amount of people who have been in his shoes or worse that have gives me chills.
On the other hand, there's gonna be many sickening and unfortunate accounts coming out, and even with this wave of people speaking up it could still only be the tip of the iceberg. This type of behavior needs to come to an end.
David here didn't take the hush money, but thinking of the potential amount of people who have been in his shoes or worse that have gives me chills.
esmith08734
Member
Really shitty story. Firing a dude for being sexually harassed?
This is quite frankly typical corporate HR bs.
The Lead in this since is probably more valuable than this employee. This happens in most places.
Hell at my last job. Me and other coworkers went to HR with a damn laundry list with proof of how our executive director just wasn't good at her job and pretty much did nothing when a Resident sexually harassed a female CNA.
They didn't do shit to to our ED and alot of the "expendable people" were let go.
HR at least in my experience has NEVER been there for the employee and only there to protect the corporate interest.
