News of Ubisoft's sexual misconduct has been cropping up for years now, with many high level executives being implicated and several of them being removed from the company. Now, French union Solidaires Informatique has filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft, claiming that CEO Yves Guillemot has aided in creating a culture of "institutional sexual misconduct" within the company.
This time last year, several high level executives at Ubisoft stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations: chief creative officer Serge Hascoët; managing director for Ubisoft's Canadian studios, Yannis Mallat; Maxime Béland, the company's editorial Vice President; and VP Tommy François. Ubisoft's global head of Human Resources, Cécile Cornet also resigned last year, saying that it was "in the company's best interest," and reportedly describing Yves Guillemot as someone who is "okay with toxic management, as long as the results of these managers exceed their toxicity level." Other high level Ubisoft employees have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past as well, suggesting a concerning pattern of behavior for the company's staff.
Solidaires Informatique has been gathering evidence for a case since that time, with the workers union putting out an open call for all employees who had experienced sexual misconduct at Ubisoft to join the suit against the company. It has taken a year to build the case, but the organization has filed a new complaint against a number of specific employees, citing multiple instances of sexual harassment and mismanagement. Among the named are former employees such as François, Hascoët, and Guillemot. François and Hascoët are suggested to have taken advantage of their positions to harass multiple people, as well as failing to prevent the same behavior by lower-level employees.
Yves Guillemot is named only for being complicit in the behavior of his staff, with the suit noting that "as CEO, he is responsible for what happens within the company." The suit also lists Cécile Cornet and a number of other, unnamed, members of the Human Resources Department, for allowing harassment to continue unabated at Ubisoft. Serge Hascoët's assistant is also implicated as someone who took advantage of his position to harass people under Ubisoft's employ.
The union makes an overarching suit against the company itself, claiming that Ubisoft's policies revolve around "keeping harassers in place" because it is "more profitable for the company than protecting employees." It notes that harassment within the company is not only tolerated, but protected by upper management, and hopes that the lawsuit will "dismantle the dynamics of this system." Lawyer Maude Beckers is leading the case, and has carefully constructed it over the last year to make sure that Ubisoft is held accountable for its actions.
While current CEO, Yves Guillemot has claimed that the behaviors of those named in the suit are "unacceptable" and "toxic," as well as supposedly committing to "implementing profound changes across the company," many remain unconvinced by his proclamations. If Cornet's original suggestion regarding his management style is to be believed, Guillemot and Ubisoft could be in for a tough time in court in the face of Solidaries Informatique's case, and an even tougher time rebuilding its image if the union wins.
Source: Kotaku