Naughty Dog denies claims that ex-employee was fired after being sexually harassed

[midian182]

As the movie industry deals with the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, more people are coming forward with allegations of sexual harassment against their superiors. On Friday, Amazon studio boss Roy Price was suspended by the company for his reportedly inappropriate behavior. Now, a former Naughty Dog employee has talked about his experiences, and how Sony fired him and allegedly offered money for his silence.

David Ballard was a former environment artist and multiplayer level layout artist for Naughty Dog, having worked on several of its Uncharted games and The Last of Us during his time at the company.

Using his Facebook and Twitter accounts on Friday night, Ballard wrote that in late 2015 he was sexually harassed while at Naughty Dog by a lead, an incident that led to his work environment becoming extremely toxic.

In late 2015, I was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a lead. My work environment became extremely toxic afterward. 1/

— David Ballard (@DBal) October 14, 2017

Ballard said he suffered a mental breakdown at work in February 2016, at which point Sony PlayStation HR became involved. “When I told them about the harassment they 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,” he explained.

Ballard claims that Sony offered him $20,000 to sign a letter that stated he agreed to his termination and wouldn’t discuss it with anyone. He declined and has been unemployed since his firing 17 months ago. He tells potential employers he was “burned out by the crunch” at Naughty Dog because he's too ashamed to explain the real reasons behind his departure.

“I’m speaking out now because of the strength I’ve seen in others coming forward about their experiences in the TV/Film industry. 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.”

Naughty Dog has since responded to the claims. The company states it has “not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way,” and that “harassment and inappropriate conduct have no place at Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment.”

"We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously,” it added.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/71409-naughty-dog-denies-claims-ex-employee-fired-after.html

 

[EClyde]

Tip of the iceberg in news stories regarding harassment. So far they primarily against the left that scream the right has a war on women. It is now a hot topic. I don't want to hear from hilary C no more about how shocked she is. She be the queen of stepping on harassed women

"We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously,” Reads exactly like "Your data is safe with us"

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously,”
Didn't Hitler say something in a similar vein about the safety of Europe's Jews, Gypsies etc. while trying to gather support in order to become Germany's chancellor in 1933?
If anyone believes Sony's & Naughty Dog's statement, they'll believe anything.

 

[EClyde]

"We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously,”
Didn't Hitler say something in a similar vein about the safety of Europe's Jews, Gypsies etc. while trying to gather support in order to become Germany's chancellor in 1933?
If anyone believes Sony's & Naughty Dog's statement, they'll believe anything.

No, I don't think Hitler said that but if he did please find it. In his book he described his thoughts on that subject. Only a few listened

 

[davislane1]

"We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously,”
Didn't Hitler say something in a similar vein about the safety of Europe's Jews, Gypsies etc. while trying to gather support in order to become Germany's chancellor in 1933?
If anyone believes Sony's & Naughty Dog's statement, they'll believe anything.

Godwin's law had to be observed at some point.

Good on you, sir.

 

[VitalyT]

The truth is, most of such cases are either settled under the table, or the victim simply leaves the company.

As for this story, I'm a bit suspicious. For a technical guy not to be able to find a job for 17 months doesn't seem right. Maybe he himself does have issues after all, and possibly what he considered a sexual harassment in fact wasn't. Sometimes people misunderstand a joke, and it rubs them the wrong way, up the the point they feel being harassed.

 

[mailpup]

The truth is, most of such cases are either settled under the table, or the victim simply leaves the company.

As for this story, I'm a bit suspicious. For a technical guy not to be able to find a job for 17 months doesn't seem right. Maybe he himself does have issues after all, and possibly what he considered a sexual harassment in fact wasn't. Sometimes people can't understand a joke, and it rubs them just the wrong way.

He tells potential employers he was “burned out by the crunch” at Naughty Dog because he's too ashamed to explain the real reasons behind his departure.

IMHO, this is why he is still unemployed. He is lying to his prospective employers and he doesn't realize that they will call his previous employer who will certainly give their version of events. Even if his allegations are true, his prospective employers don't know that because Ballard never told them differently and, moreover, all they do know is he lied to them. I can understand why he lied and I make no judgements as to the veracity of his claims but when you go for a job interview he was foolish to think no one would check out his story. During my career I interviewed many people for various positions. We always checked with their previous supervisors and employers to get a more complete picture.

 

[Uncle Al]

Harassment of all kinds has been around since the dawn of time. The main issue is caused by companies and organizations that (a) try to sweep it under the rug, (b) try to get rid of the victim rather than the perpetrator, (c) assume upper managers have some special privilege by which they are given a free pass, (d) fail to have enforceable rules that will deal with not only harassers but for those that try to use false claims of harassment in order to get ahead or shield themselves from other acts they might be guilty of.

Since the first congressional rules attacking harassment in the early 90's it has opened the flood gates for all sorts of claims, both legitimate and illegitimate and there is no end. The Weinstein issue is being tried in the press rather in the courts. If the press were not making such a big deal out of it, there might actually be a fair resolution but the sensationalism we are seeing isn't helping.