PlayStation hit by harassment lawsuit amid Activision Blizzard issues

A former PlayStation employee has filed a lawsuit against the company following alleged wrongful termination, gender discrimination, and harassment.

Just days following PlayStation boss Jim Ryan’s condemnation of Activision Blizzard’s handling of its own workplace culture, a new lawsuit has been filed against the console manufacturer by Emma Majo, a former security analyst.

As reported by Axios, the case claims that “Sony tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees”, while also alleging that female employees are subjected to “disparate treatment in pay and work opportunities”.

Sony PlayStation under fire following harassment allegations

Majo alleges that her career progression was blocked by her superiors and that she was let go from the company following a complaint made about the discrimination.

According to Majo, her termination was due to a department being closed, but she hadn’t worked in that team and Sony’s actions caused “financial loss” and “non-economic damages” including emotional distress. The lawsuit is aimed at recovering what Majo describes as “general compensatory damages in amounts to be proven at trial”.

• Read more: Activision Blizzard announce plans to combat harassment and discrimination

The suit comes after a sobering period for the games industry as the continued fallout from the State of California’s legal proceedings against Activision Blizzard’s workplace culture which was filed earlier this year.

In a more recent update, the Wall Street Journal reported that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick had reportedly been aware of allegations, as well as being involved in harassment himself.

This prompted PlayStation’s Jim Ryan, Xbox’s Phil Spencer, and Nintendo’s Doug Bowser to condemn the way Activision Blizzard had dealt with the allegations via emails to staff.