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[Lime]

Venturebeat has an article on it: Not sure what effects IGDA with their 8.000 membership have on the industry and a company like Nintendo, but at least it sends a message.

One of the biggest organizations representing game developers had some strong words for Nintendo’s recent actions.

Today, International Game Developers Association executive director Kate Edwards issued a statement about Nintendo’s dismissal of Treehouse marketing employee Alison Rapp last week. She’s concerned that the company’s action sends a negative message to game developers and other employees that publishers won’t support them against Internet hate mobs. Edwards also fears this gives a victory to those who organize harassment campaigns against people in the industry.

Edwards' statement:

While Nintendo’s official statement on the matter of Alison Rapp’s firing strives to distance the company from anything related to the orchestrated online campaign of harassment and defamation that was raging against her, their timing in dealing with the issue is dubious at best. Unfortunately, the company seems oblivious to the consequences of their actions, not realizing the perceived victory it handed to the online hate groups who are now pursuing the dismissal of other women game developers by derision and defamation to their companies. By now, we would expect that all game development and publishing companies would be fully aware of negative social media dynamics and be more discerning of online feedback, as well as more protective of their employees — especially their employees of diverse backgrounds. Many have become proactive and aware but this industry obviously needs to make more progress.”

http://venturebeat.com/2016/04/05/g...nintendo-off-the-hook-for-firing-alison-rapp/

Good to see someone taking action against Nintendo's awful mistreatment of firing their employee while she is facing harassment by the organized misogynists, as well as the signal Nintendo sent across the industry as well as to its own employees. Edwards addresses the problem very succinctly on the consequences for game developers and publishers.

Lock and mock if this does not count as new news after the previous thread.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Good that someone is looking out for women in this industry, even though Nintendo cowardly refuses to.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

I'm glad there have been people continuing to talk about this story. It was a big, awful decision that has seriously soured my view of Nintendo.

 

[Dennis]

Was it ever determined what exactly the second job that Nintendo fired her for was?

 

[Bear Force One]

Good. Drag Nintendo. They deserve it here.

 

[User1608]

Good. Fuck Nintendo for being cowards. As a long time fan, fuck them. They've lost my respect.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

IGDA spilling the tea tbh.

 

[Deserted Maniac Island]

Let it go...

Nintendo's actions in not supporting Rapp was not very good, but Nintendo didn't fire her because of the harassment. It's not our place to speculate or comment on her firing, it was between her and Nintendo.

 

[sflufan]

Excellent. As I stated last week, even if Nintendo was will within their rights as an employer to dismiss someone who they felt no longer properly represented the company's image, its handling of the entire situation was nothing short of abysmal and they should be raked over the coals for it.

 

[Game-Biz]

Good. The more negative feedback, the better. The cowards deserve it.

 

[Shizuka]

It was about time.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Let it go...

Nintendo's actions in not supporting Rapp was not very good, but Nintendo didn't fire her because of the harassment. It's not our place to speculate or comment on her firing, it was between her and Nintendo.

Nintendo's actions are exactly the point tho. They massively failed to consider the implications of what they were doing and did it anyway, further increasing the hostility and vitriol directed at women working in games.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

Nintendo deserve it.

 

[True Fire]

When this goes to court, Nintendo is going to lose pretty badly. Their timing is suspicious at best and malicious as hell at worst. It'll be pretty easy for Alison's lawyer to prove that she was targeted by the company.

Let it go...

Nintendo's actions in not supporting Rapp was not very good, but Nintendo didn't fire her because of the harassment. It's not our place to speculate or comment on her firing, it was between her and Nintendo.

Of course they fired her because of the harassment. We can dance around the issue and make excuses all we want, but it is what it is. What matters now is whether or not a lawyer will be able to convince a judge that Nintendo mishandled her firing.

 

[Daft Punk]

Not trying to belittle the statement from them, but can the IGDA do anything but publicly shame Nintendo? I'd imagine Nintendo is basically putting their fingers in their ears and pretending they don't hear anything.

 

[Purexed]

Hard to come down on Nintendo when we don't know the side job Rapp had as well. For instance, if she camming on the side, I completely get why they would want to distance themselves from the situation. The fact she was controversial is immaterial, in that scenario.

 

[CrispyBoar]

I'm glad that Nintendo's being called out on it.

They deserve the negative PR that they're getting with this incident.

 

[Hindl]

Good hopefully the story keeps getting out. I love Nintendo but this was absolutely shameful

 

[Absoludacrous]

Let it go...

Nintendo's actions in not supporting Rapp was not very good, but Nintendo didn't fire her because of the harassment. It's not our place to speculate or comment on her firing, it was between her and Nintendo.

Doesn't matter. She could have danced naked in front of NOA headquarters. Nintendo remained silent during the entire harassment campaign, then fired her without ever addressing it. Whether the actual firing was justified or not, their actions (and inaction) sends a strong message, which is what the IGDA is fighting them on.

 

[rhandino]

When this goes to court, Nintendo is going to lose pretty badly. Their timing is suspicious at best and malicious as hell at worst. It'll be pretty easy for Alison's lawyer to prove that she was targeted by the company.

Oh, I was not aware that she was going to take them the court.

When did that happened?

 

[RowdyReverb]

It sucks that this may feel like a win for internet hate groups who want to spin this into their own success story or something, and I would never cheer for somebody to lose their job, but I really have trouble faulting Nintendo for this move.
When somebody is hired to be a public face for a company, their personal life and professional life become one and the same. That is the nature of those types of jobs. Therefore, if your personal life does not fit in with your company's values, then your job is forfeit. I would expect the same treatment for somebody like Major Nelson if he was involved in a potentially controversial side job.
I know there's already a thread for this somewhere, but I had yet to speak my mind on the topic.

 

[FF Seraphim]

I am not sure this is going to have a positive effect at all. Sure they are publicly shaming Nintendo but what does that do? Do we honestly think Nintendo will do more to protect their employees or do you think they will have an even heavier hand than before? I see them restricting employee freedoms and just firing any they see may be a problem.

 

[Hubble]

I am finding it harder and harder to support Nintendo anymore. They handed hate groups a victory with no sensitivity or consideration for Alison Rapp with her difficult circumstances. Their terrible online infrastructure. Their anti-community crusade against the Youtube community. Nintendo has to be one of the most antiquated companies unbelievably.

 

[Nudull]

Let it burn. Nintendo deserves every bit of hate from this.

 

[True Fire]

Oh, I was not aware that she was going to take them the court.

When did that happened?

It hasn't been confirmed yet, but anyone in their right mind would do it. McDonalds workers have gotten thousands of dollars for improper firings.

 

[BY2K]

Oh, I was not aware that she was going to take them the court.

When did that happened?

She isn't.

She's even telling people not to stop supporting Nintendo because of the other people working at Nintendo that she likes.

 

[Blackthorn]

And while we hum and haw whether or not Nintendo was right for what they did or what we should do about it, the mob has already moved on to another target.

 

[Herbs]

good to see someone in the industry sticking up for her. too bad Nintendo are cowards

 

[NateDrake]

It hasn't been confirmed yet, but anyone in their right mind would do it. McDonalds workers have gotten millions of dollars for improper firings.

But she said the reason for her firing was basically justified by admitting her moonlighting job wasn't allowed per the company rules. So what will she sue them over?

 

[DecoReturns]

It hasn't been confirmed yet, but anyone in their right mind would do it. McDonalds workers have gotten thousands of dollars for improper firings.

She won't win. Also it sounds as those she has nothing against them.

 

[GoldStarz]

Let it go...

Nintendo's actions in not supporting Rapp was not very good, but Nintendo didn't fire her because of the harassment. It's not our place to speculate or comment on her firing, it was between her and Nintendo.

Her harassment directly led to her firing. Ever if it wasn't the reason for it, it's still a negative mark of the industry.

 

[TheWorst]

Let it go...

Nintendo's actions in not supporting Rapp was not very good, but Nintendo didn't fire her because of the harassment. It's not our place to speculate or comment on her firing, it was between her and Nintendo.

If we keep letting things like this go, we're never going to see any progress in the industry. It's very important that we do the exact opposite of that and keep these conversations going. Also, it's pretty obvious that GG played an important role in this whole ordeal- in fact, they're essentially why it became such an ordeal in the first place.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

As a long time fan, fuck them. They've lost my respect.

I don't get why people seem surprised. They are a staunchly conservative Japanese company. The American branch of which is ruled with an iron fist by Japan, which doesn't exactly have a stellar record when it comes to women's issues in the workplace. This incident, while deplorable, was in no way surprising to me.

 

[Deserted Maniac Island]

Nintendo's actions are exactly the point tho. They massively failed to consider the implications of what they were doing and did it anyway, further increasing the hostility and vitriol directed at women working in games.

*Nintendo's public actions

We will never know what happened internally. We need to look at the root of the problem, and not focus on one anecdotal case, in which we don't understand the whole case. Remember corporations will never be our friends, they don't do owe us anything. They may have good people working in them, but corporations care about their bottom-lines.

Edit: It fucked situation all around, but this the sad case of the industry, and emblematic of corporate culture.

 

[jholmes]

More of this tut-tutting that seems to presume Nintendo should continue to employ someone they'd normally fire specifically to spite a bunch of people harassing said employee.

Here's an idea, if what Nintendo did was wrong, why not pursue a legal avenue? Tell Alison Rapp you'll pay her legal fees and such, claim that they were motivated by something other than what they fired her for, let the courts decide. This vague scorn people are harmlessly tossing around Nintendo is juvenile.

 

[Oddish1]

When this goes to court, Nintendo is going to lose pretty badly. Their timing is suspicious at best and malicious as hell at worst. It'll be pretty easy for Alison's lawyer to prove that she was targeted by the company.

More difficult than you think. We can debate and question Nintendo's motives and judgement, but legally they didn't do anything wrong.

 

[entremet]

NOA handled this terribly.

 

[rhandino]

It hasn't been confirmed yet, but anyone in their right mind would do it. McDonalds workers have gotten thousands of dollars for improper firings.

I thought that she admitted that she was doing that 2nd job which was against the company policies but maybe I missed something.

Let me check back that thread because I dont remember her sounding angry or mad about the whole deal so I supposed that they parted way in more or less good terms (with a nice severance package maybe? Who knows...)

 

[SilverLunar]

Condemnation of someone or something doesn't really do anything.

She will take them to court?? Ehh that doesn't sound promising from her end, I wonder how I'll go for her.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Good on them. Nintendo's actions have been pretty shameful in this whole affair, and they need to be raked over the coals for this.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I thought that she admitted that she was doing that 2nd job which was against the company policies but maybe I missed something.

She did. There's no case to win, she won't sue. No lawyer is going to advise her to sue against a cut and dry case like this in an at-will state.

 

[BY2K]

I thought that she admitted that she was doing that 2nd job which was against the company policies but maybe I missed something.

Let me check back that thread because I dont remember her sounding angry or mad about the whole deal so I supposed that they parted way in a more or less good way.

Having the 2nd job was fine by Nintendo. It's the nature of it that was a problem to them.

And Alison had that job under another name.

 

[sega4ever]

Was it ever determined what exactly the second job that Nintendo fired her for was?

her side job was offering nsfw photos for buying her stuff off her amazon wishlist or just about. what company wouldn't fire anybody, man or woman, for that especially one with a family friendly image like nintendo.

 

[dead souls]

When this goes to court, Nintendo is going to lose pretty badly. Their timing is suspicious at best and malicious as hell at worst. It'll be pretty easy for Alison's lawyer to prove that she was targeted by the company.

Lol, in an at-will employment state she has zero recourse. There's more chance that the Wii U will become a runaway success than there is of her winning a lawsuit against Nintendo for this.

 

[Sir Abacus]

More difficult than you think. We can debate and question Nintendo's motives and judgement, but legally they didn't do anything wrong.

Yep. Washington is an at-will state and this certainly doesn't come under any of the typical exceptions. If they found out she was doing less than savory things in her free time (even if they were discovered and forwarded to Nintendo by a hate group) they are more than welcome to fire her.

They're still dicks for doing it.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

her side job was offering nsfw photos for buying her stuff off her amazon wishlist or just about. what company wouldn't fire anybody, man or woman, for that especially one with a family friendly image like nintendo.

No it wasn't.
Can we please stop spreading this lie?

 

[TheWorst]

I don't get why people seem surprised. They are a staunchly conservative Japanese company. The American branch of which is ruled with an iron fist by Japan, which doesn't exactly have a stellar record when it comes to women's issues in the workplace. This incident, while deplorable, was in no way surprising to me.

Just because it isn't surprising doesn't mean it's not deplorable. I've been a huge fan of Nintendo and this was something of a wake up call to me. This type of bullshit can't continue.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

More of this tut-tutting that seems to presume Nintendo should continue to employ someone they'd normally fire specifically to spite a bunch of people harassing said employee.

Here's an idea, if what Nintendo did was wrong, why not pursue a legal avenue? Tell Alison Rapp you'll pay her legal fees and such, claim that they were motivated by something other than what they fired her for, let the courts decide. This vague scorn people are harmlessly tossing around Nintendo is juvenile.

"Never criticize a bad situation unless you as one single person can sort it all out yourself" or "never criticize my favourite gaming company over inconsequential equality issues"?

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Removed because response to a lie

 

[mugurumakensei]

her side job was offering nsfw photos for buying her stuff off her amazon wishlist or just about. what company wouldn't fire anybody, man or woman, for that especially one with a family friendly image like nintendo.

No it wasn't.