Former Naughty Dog Artist claims harassment. Naughty Dog says "no evidence".
interpolator
I thought this was important to share. News of harassment stories are leaking out of Hollywood and now one developer from the game industry has come forward with his claim.
EDIT: For anyone joining in, all quotes were made public on twitter, by both parties. These are not my opinions.
Naughty Dog also finally responded as follows:
EDIT: For anyone joining in, all quotes were made public on twitter, by both parties. These are not my opinions.
In late 2015, I was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a lead. My work environment became extremely toxic afterward. 1/
In February 2016 I had a mental breakdown at work & Sony Playstation HR became involved. When I told them about the harassment they... 2/
...ended the call and fired me the next day. They cited the company was moving in a different direction and my job was no longer needed. 3/
They tried to silence me by offering $20,000 if I signed a letter agreeing to the termination as well as to not discuss it with anyone. 4/
I declined to sign. I have been unemployed for 17 months since. When interviewers ask why I left Naughty Dog, I say I was burned out... 5/
...by the crunch, ashamed to get to the root of the problem of being sexually harassed. 6/
I'm speaking out now because of the strength I've seen in others coming forward about their experiences in the TV/Film industry. 7/
This is the hardest thing I've ever done. I will not let anyone kill my drive or love for the video game industry, my passions or life. /END
Naughty Dog also finally responded as follows:
Replies
(It sucks if it's true, and it sucks if he's lying. Bad situation all around.)
I tried to fit all relevant details without making the title super long.
This forum is full of artists in the industry and those wanting to break in. This industry is also small, where there's a 6 degree of separation with someone you know in the field. I'm sure you've heard of stories online, with one recently, where a post online insulting a company, can affect your employment on a job or potential job, especially if you might apply to that same company years later. I'm not saying it's bad to voice your opinion, but just be cautious what you're posting here, at a game art/game development forum, where the company itself has artists that go here, posts artwork, and gives advice/feedback.
I do hope David's doing fine after mentioning what he's been though.
Given both Naughty Dog and Ballard have aired this issue over a public forum (Twitter), I think it's fair that both parties have given consent to publish this elsewhere. Now if something legal does turn up, then that's where Polycount's mods should step in.
It's a sensitive topic and I'm not encouraging anyone to go break NDA. But I'm not ok with trying to sweep these matters under the rug and pretending everything is all rosy. That's how we get this vicious cycle of stories like this breaking and then people ask "why did no one talk about this before?".
If he was sexual harassed then this thread is not a bad idea. Everyone is sex obsessed if you ask me.
It's interesting that you say they 'finally' responded, but their reply was a day after his. I totally agree that people should speak up, and sexual harassment is often swept under the rug, but that's a bit biased, no?
It's good to bring allegations out in the open because it might encourage those who have had similar experiences to also come forward and the sorts of people that harass others usually do it more than once.
So yes, this is a good thread.
Now if there are more reports like this in the future for such a company, ONLY then their reputation will be trully affected.