Naughty Dog Responds to Allegations of Sexual Harassment
Over the weekend, an ex-employee accused the company of trying to keep him silent. Now, they've officially responded.
Due to the multitude of women speaking up about Harvey Weinstein's continued sexual harassment and rape, men and women from industries beyond Hollywood are speaking up to share their experiences. David Ballard, a former artist for Naughty Dog, shared his own experience with sexual harassment at the studio and shared that PlayStation's HR department attempted to keep him quiet for $20,000.
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
The above tweet and the ensuing thread are pinned to Ballard's profile and break down a series of events that started with him being sexually harassed by a lead and ended with an attempt to silence him after being fired. The tweets have circulated quite a bit, pushing Naughty Dog to issue an official statement on their blog:
"We have recently read on social media that an ex-employee of Naughty Dog, Dave Ballard, claims he was sexually harassed when he worked at Naughty Dog. We have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment. 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. We value every single person who works at Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is of utmost importance to us that we maintain a safe, productive
A key point from the statements from both parties is that Sony's PlayStation HR department handled the allegations. Naughty Dog not having records of any grievances doesn't mean Ballard's complaints weren't logged, though the statement does say they didn't find anything from Sony Interactive Entertainment as well. Considering he didn't sign the $20,000 NDA, Ballard could speak on this even further.
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replyCharles Singletary posted a new article, Naughty Dog Responds to Allegations of Sexual Harassment
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