A new lawsuit alleges Bungie’s leadership engaged in inappropriate behavior, including sharing lewd photos, making racist and sexist remarks, attending meetings drunk, and more.
Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2 and the upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, is facing damning accusations, this time in a lawsuit filed by former game director Chris Barrett.
Barrett, who was fired following an internal investigation into allegations by eight female employees, claims Bungie terminated him to avoid paying a $45 million payment.
According to Bloomberg, the investigation revealed that Barrett’s behavior had made these women feel “uncomfortable” and that he had “behaved inappropriately toward them.” In response, Barrett is seeking $200 million in damages through his lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges that high-ranking executives at Bungie participated in inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, including “texts concerning the appearance of women working for Bungie,” engaging in “sexual conduct at Bungie-sponsored events,” and more.
Ex-Director Chris Barrett’s Lawsuit Against Bungie and Sony
The lawsuit details shocking claims about the behavior of Bungie’s top executives. Among the most troubling allegations: A “very senior Bungie executive” is accused of sending sexually suggestive material, including lewd photographs and graphic descriptions of sex acts, to Christopher Barrett and others at the company.
The same executive allegedly commented on the appearance of women working at Bungie inappropriately. This individual also reportedly “showed up for work drunk, attending group meetings while clearly intoxicated, and engaged in sexual conduct at Bungie-sponsored events.”
“One of Bungie’s founding members” allegedly made sexist and racist comments in group settings frequently. One example cited in the lawsuit claims that he joked that “a woman’s place is barefoot and pregnant.” Although Barrett reportedly reprimanded him via email, no further action was taken.
“During an interview, a potential hire told Barrett that Bungie should name a Destiny faction ‘The Rotten C***s’. Barrett reported the comment to the group evaluating the candidate and insisted that Bungie not hire him. Leadership disregarded Barrett’s recommendation and hired him.”
“A former very senior Bungie executive referred to Hillary Clinton as a ‘c***’ in a work meeting with Barrett.” The allegations don’t stop there. The lawsuit also claims an employee allegedly exposed himself in the office, including “by pulling down his pants in the middle of the office and pressing his exposed buttocks against glass overlooking the entire studio.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Bungie has a specific email channel that was reportedly used to circulate lewd and semi-pornographic content, some of which was allegedly displayed on a projector at studio events.
“Bungie maintained an email channel that shared lewd and semi-pornographic content to the entire studio. Those images were occasionally shared on a projector at studio events,” the complaint reads.
“For many years, Bungie had a ‘knighting’ ceremony for long-time employees. As part of that ceremony, the ‘knighted’ employee (male or female) would be required to kneel in front of senior Bungie management to be “knighted” with a sword.
“During the ceremony, it was common for lewd comments to be made, including a statement that the kneeling employee had ‘assumed the position, like your mom before you’ — an obvious reference to oral sex. ‘Knighting’ ceremonies were done in front of the entire studio.”
Bungie and Sony have yet to respond to these allegations, but the details presented in this lawsuit further tarnish the company’s reputation, which has already been rocked by recent controversies, and layoffs.
You can read the full 82-page document here.
