Again in 2023, a number of former Ubisoft executives were taken into custody by French police, following allegations of sexual harassment, workplace abuse, sexism and violence in 2020. Now, a few of these executives have appeared in court docket in Bobigny, Seine-Saint-Denis to defend their alleged position in cultivating a office the place girls had been regularly assaulted or humiliated by senior members of workers.
The previous Ubisoft executives in query are Serge Hascoët, former chief artistic officer, who resigned after the 2020 allegations, and is accused of sexual harassment and bullying. In keeping with his lawyer, he “denies any information of reprehensible acts dedicated by collaborators at Ubisoft and didn’t obtain any studies of this.” Former vice-president of editorial and inventive providers Tommy François can also be accused of sexual harassment, bullying and tried sexual assault. He denies all prices. Former sport director Guillaume Patrux, lastly, is accused of sexual harassment and bullying. He, too, denies all prices.
As reported by the Guardian, the court docket proceedings embody extra particulars concerning the allegations in opposition to the three executives, and what one Ubisoft staffer characterised as a “boys’ membership above the legislation”. All of the occasions in query had been mentioned to have taken place between 2012 and 2020.
Amongst different accusations, one lady was reportedly knowledgeable that carrying a coat with a purple lining was “an invite to rape”, whereas one other was advised that her outfit had given anyone an erection. Probably the most severe allegations embody tying a feminine worker to a chair with a roll of tape and pushing her into an elevator. The identical lady allegedly had her face drawn on with a marker pen and was pressured to attend a gathering with out washing it off. Some males are mentioned to have been focused, with one workplace sport involving touching their genitals by way of their trousers.
There are additionally claims of non secular hatred. A Muslim developer studies being ostracised after the 2015 jihadist Bataclan live performance corridor assaults in Paris. She additionally allegedly discovered bacon sandwiches positioned on her desk or thrown at her throughout Ramadan.
Through the court docket proceedings, a number of of the person alleged abuses had been attributed to the three former Ubisoft executives on trial. Hascoët is claimed to have advised workers that he ought to have intercourse with a colleague in a gathering room in entrance of everybody “to indicate the right way to calm her”. François is accused of attempting to kiss a lady on the mouth whereas his colleagues restrained her by the arms and again at an workplace Christmas occasion in 2015. François reportedly advised the court docket this week that “I by no means tried to hurt anybody” and that there had been a “tradition of joking round.”
As for Patrux, the allegations in opposition to him embody miming bodily assaults on workers, throwing tools throughout an open plan workplace house, drawing swastikas on a lady’s pocket book throughout a gathering, and cracking a whip close to colleagues’ faces.
Again in 2020, Ubisoft apologised to “everybody affected” by the reported harassment and abuse, and introduced plans to audit “our current insurance policies, processes, and techniques to know the place these have damaged down, and to make sure we are able to higher forestall, detect, and punish inappropriate behaviour.” In November 2021, present and former Ubisoft workers launched a public petition condemning the corporate for an absence of significant or clear progress on this entrance.
In 2022, CEO Yves Guillemot responded to criticism of Ubisoft’s efforts to make amends by saying “we’ve got completed quite a bit and I feel we’re an organization that may be happy with itself”, pointing to the swift dismissal of sure reported offenders, together with Patrux. Ubisoft have but to answer this week’s revelations.
