Former Naughty Dog Employee Named in Sexual Harassment Claim
- Thread starter Jawbreaker
- Start date
Now I want to see if people will boycott ND releases because of things like that. It's strange to see people doing that for detroit and Quantic Dream in some movement but with ND that's not happening at all.
That's silly. Who do they think is made redundant first when low sales come in? It's the people at the bottom. The people more likely to be victims in these circumstances.
Sure, the accused is innocent until proven guilty.
But the accuser is also innocent of lying or confabulation until proven otherwise.
I don't see why this is hard to get. It's OK to sympathise with and support the accuser, it doesn't automatically make anybody right or wrong. It's not only important for victims to be supported, but for victims to be SEEN to be supported to encourage others to speak out. Demanding receipts as soon as somebody speaks up just helps perpetuate the cycle of abuse and cover-up, and discourages others from coming forward.
But the accuser is also innocent of lying or confabulation until proven otherwise.
I don't see why this is hard to get. It's OK to sympathise with and support the accuser, it doesn't automatically make anybody right or wrong. It's not only important for victims to be supported, but for victims to be SEEN to be supported to encourage others to speak out. Demanding receipts as soon as somebody speaks up just helps perpetuate the cycle of abuse and cover-up, and discourages others from coming forward.
Let's remind ourselves of the first statement ND gave here:
Let me add to a Post I already made on the old site: This is a really weird and honestly misleading statement. It doesn't counter or contradict the allegations, it just makes it look that way.
The accusation was that he was fired a day after going to HR with the complaint because "the company was moving in a different reaction." If that is true, it's quite obvious there is a connection here. However, obviously Sony HR wouldn't have written down the firing as "fired him because he complained about sexual harassement and we can't have that shit".
Basically, David Ballard says that Sony/ND swept his complaint about sexual harassement under the rug, ignored it and fired him and Sony/ND answered that they didn't find a complaint...which was the point David made on Twitter in the first place. It's a weak fucking statement because it puts a finality to the situation while a proper investigation would be in order. Not a hastily written statement written on a weekend trying to smother any and all allegations and discussions in the first place. And they don't even approach the harassment itself: They are just saying: We have no paper trail here, we don't care, even though the whole statement first said that there would be no paper trail, because HR ignored the accusation.
So I'm quite happy that this isn't over - because ND's and Sony's first statement was frankly disgusting in the way it completely and utterly swooped the issue under the table, without even commiting to a proper investigation.
Let me add to a Post I already made on the old site: This is a really weird and honestly misleading statement. It doesn't counter or contradict the allegations, it just makes it look that way.
The accusation was that he was fired a day after going to HR with the complaint because "the company was moving in a different reaction." If that is true, it's quite obvious there is a connection here. However, obviously Sony HR wouldn't have written down the firing as "fired him because he complained about sexual harassement and we can't have that shit".
Basically, David Ballard says that Sony/ND swept his complaint about sexual harassement under the rug, ignored it and fired him and Sony/ND answered that they didn't find a complaint...which was the point David made on Twitter in the first place. It's a weak fucking statement because it puts a finality to the situation while a proper investigation would be in order. Not a hastily written statement written on a weekend trying to smother any and all allegations and discussions in the first place. And they don't even approach the harassment itself: They are just saying: We have no paper trail here, we don't care, even though the whole statement first said that there would be no paper trail, because HR ignored the accusation.
So I'm quite happy that this isn't over - because ND's and Sony's first statement was frankly disgusting in the way it completely and utterly swooped the issue under the table, without even commiting to a proper investigation.
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Upon reading this again it's obvious this was an insensitive and ridiculous thing to say and I apologise.
Put me in the "Wait for more information before jumping to conclusions" group.
Swear, y'all need to relax.
Swear, y'all need to relax.
My point is that there's an overprotection with ND because the community in general likes them much more.
It's the classic "I'm boycotting something I'd never buy anyway!"
That said, I never did hear what happened with regard to QD.
Pretty much this.
Might not be as bad as other places, but there is.
Yes this
We really, factually know nothing besides these tweets right?
Why would you boycot games from ND?
How many people work on a game of ND?
100's?
I think really a lot great people work at ND and do their best to give us the best games they can give us
Its a bit different in this case because Ballard himself was being toxic, correct me if I am wrong but from what I followed of the story last year when it was brought up, he sent a hostile email to an employee (or employees? Can't remember) so what it looks like to me is that if sexual harassment did occur, Ballard didn't say anything about it when it happened and became increasingly upset (by bundling it up inside him I suppose) until his breakdown, in which point he did bring it up to HR but at that point he would have been fired anyways. The "hush money" he speaks of was probably just a standard severance package, and ND resolved it internally.
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A lot of people work at Quantic Dream too.
Also what does the quality of their games have to do with sexual harassment? If they made shitty games would it be ok to boycott them?
I'm not saying you need to avoid any developer with a problematic history.(goodness knows I'm most likely supporting some.)
But this dismissal is just odd.
I don't want to boycott ND, I'll buy The Last of Us 2. I'm not someone who does such things. I'm talking about people that said they would do that for Quantic Dream but with ND is different even tho both of them are facing such acusations. In my mind, the difference is that there's people that hate QD and Cage and on the other side, ND is plenty loved so we see such difference in treatment even though we shouldn't
Of course
Its like with Trump
Everyone needs to hang by the same people that do not think Trump should hang for exactly the same things
Its human nature
We are hard on people we dont like
And we forgive it if someone we do like does exactly the same thing
This post reads like nobody at ND could do any wrong, they are making a game Im looking forward to.
They also named the HR staff.
I'd rather if this person filed a lawsuit, than having the public turn it into a witchhunt.
This isn't against someone powerful like hollywood producers. When it comes to public figures, I'd agree.
Let the reckoning begin, that's a lot of people who knew and didn't help. ND gets the side eye, Sony HR gets a double dose of side eye and a screw face. I expect Kotaku to a better job with their investigation this time.
Also cut out the whole "where's the proof" shit, that's not a good look either.
Also cut out the whole "where's the proof" shit, that's not a good look either.
Just as all other place then. It does not mean there is not a huge number of vocal people who can act worst there.
I love ND but you are right.
If this was QD everyone would be ready to jump on them, and ask for the studio to close, and everyone going to jail.
Want examples? Just check QD threads.
Wait, the guy left the company in January? That's just 2-3 months since the news about this arised.
Coincidence?
Coincidence?
You're not either but you're still condemning a guy on allegations
You don't need to be a judge to wait for proofs or other testimonies confirming his story before getting a clear understanding of the situation
And doing this is not blaming the victim either, but the only reasonnable attitude to have when you lack information
Because I refuse to support a toxic culture with my money. If you care about the employees then push for the entire industry unionizing instead of giving weak defenses of ND such as this.
I have no problem with giving the victim the benefit of the doubt, but I agree with the sentiment here. I don't think it's okay to burn down someone's life without any solid evidence that they have it coming, and yet that seems to be the outcome these days. Give the victim the benefit of the doubt and the support. It does no harm and is in all likelihood something they desperately need. But keep the pitchforks stashed too, because every once in a while we're torching someone who doesn't deserve it.
Maybe he doesn't want to sue anyone or knows he doesn't have enough evidence for a case or lacks the money to go against a mammoth like Sony. Maybe he just wants the publicity of his Twitter accusations to push everyone to do better in the future if they ever run into similar situations and doesn't want to try to bring anyone into the court of law.
If its True, how is he destroying other peoples life? They would alone be responsible for that
If this goes on to effect cogburn in his new job could this be a potential defamation of character law suit for doing the call-out? assuming there's no hard evidence
Damn this is accurate.
It's incredible how EtcetEra leans so far to the left, and then you come to Gaming and it can be painfully conservative.
Lol even people "on the left" is more prone to defend things that they like, it's not a trait exclusive to the people "on the right" or somesuch.
User Warned: System Wars
I agree there is no need for victim blaming, but then at the same time these sorts of allegations are extremely serious and and can literally ruin peoples lives. I think we should all cool it with the judgements until an investigation is complete (I have a strong feeling there would be an investigation happening, especially as names have been dropped publicly now) and until we know all the details.
Also it's pretty disgusting to see some of the usual crowd jumping on this issue to further push their own anti-Sony narrative. I would hope those sorts of posts would be moderated especially considering the seriousness of the topic, but it doesn't appear to be happening which is honestly sad to see.
Guys, it's entirely possible to both support Ballard and withhold judgement from ND at the exact same time. Providing a welcoming, non-judgmental platform and community for potential victims to step up and share their story is paramount. Doing that doesn't also mean we need to light the pitchforks or boycott the accused. It just means we should be there for Ballard and not accuse him of lying for personal gain. You don't need to do anything. Just listen.
That said, there will never, ever be concrete evidence to support Ballard's claims, just as there isn't for 99% of all harassment/abuse claims. No, there's no tape or audio recording. There never is. That's not how these cases work. And I think all of you saying "wait for evidence" know this. Fortunately, the legal system doesn't actually work like that. Witness testimony, believe it or not, is evidence.
That said, there will never, ever be concrete evidence to support Ballard's claims, just as there isn't for 99% of all harassment/abuse claims. No, there's no tape or audio recording. There never is. That's not how these cases work. And I think all of you saying "wait for evidence" know this. Fortunately, the legal system doesn't actually work like that. Witness testimony, believe it or not, is evidence.
Oh please. The 20+ year case is completely different to this one, so judging all future cases no matter what the context just based on that is dumb.
And no, "burning someone's life without any solid evidence" really isn't the outcome at all nowadays. Most accused still go ahead with their lives mostly unaffected. The only ones whose lives are affected are ones who have had multiple accusations thrown at them (and even then, not all of them either), while ones with one or two accusers still go about their lives mostly unaffected, apart from maybe some initial backlash. And considering how common sexual harassment and abuse is, we're still only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Just because there has been the rare case of a few high profile Hollywood accusations doesn't mean we are at some brink of man-ocalypse where endless droves and droves of falsely accused men are about to go down for sexual harassment and/or abuse accusations with no evidence.
Online witch hunting can be an iffy practice (not sure if this counts as one) but sometimes you can't blame people due to so many cases of sexual abuse in recent times that makes people more cynical and wary.
Victims of more severe sexual crimes go to the police, often to little effect. They probably laugh sexual harassment victims out of the door if you go in and think you can get the police to care or be able to do anything. And HR is there to protect the company, not the victims.