New court filings detail PlayStation maker Sony’s widespread sexism

Court documents filed Tuesday reveal that eight ex- and current employees at Sony Interactive Entertainment accused the PlayStation maker, allegedly of sexism. Axios first reported on the filings.

Emma Majo, a former security analyst filed suit against Sony in November 2021 for discrimination in gender and wrongful termination. Majo seeks class-action status in order to be able to join other workers who have been affected by sexism within the company. Sony filed to dismiss the complaint, citing a lack of specifics that prove “widespread intentional discrimination.”

On Tuesday, Majo’s lawyer filed statements of support from seven former PlayStation workers and one current employee. They provided support through written statements that detailed instances of sexism within the company as well as across various American offices. The allegations described in these documents range from devaluing women’s ideas and discrimination toward mothers to sexual harassment and system struggles for women to get promoted.

Stephen Noel Ilg, Majo’s lawyer, said in an adjacent statement that several other women feared retaliation from Sony and “were too scared to speak up about what had occurred at the company.”

Marie Harrington, a former Sony Interactive senior director left Sony in 2019 due to “systemic sexism against females,” which she reported throughout her career and outlined in nine pages filed Tuesday. She pointed out instances where women were undervalued against men in “calibration sessions,” where leadership highlighted high performers at the company. Harrington revealed that only four women were among 70 people being evaluated during April’s calibration session. She also flagged an instance when she reported a man’s bullying behavior to his manager: “Can we address this before PlayStation has its own national news article?”, she wrote in an email attached to the filing.

Harrington also said men at Sony would rank female employees by their “hotness” and pass around “filthy jokes and images of women.” She also described an instance where an engineer asked her not to wear skirts to work “because it was distracting him,” and alleged that male engineers went to strip clubs during lunch and shared porn. Harrington claims that she asked for a private room to nurse her twins after giving birth in 2005. She was required to use a “storage room with a broken lock directly off the entrance lobby.” Harrington wrote that she stopped breastfeeding early “because it was not sustainable under those conditions.”

Others women shared similar stories in their declarations. A former employee stated that in five years of working at Sony’s San Mateo office and San Francisco office, she was able to work directly with four female colleagues. All of those women ended up leaving the company “for similar reasons relating to sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and not being able to earn a promotion.” She described instances where men made comments about women not understanding technology, and another time where a senior manager attempted to “grab [her] breast” at an off-site work event. Another former employee described a similar incident at a work event with alcohol: “A male Senior Manager was getting inappropriately close to me. I was hugged by him and he whispered to my ear. He left me and I went to the toilet. There, I told some coworkers. Soon after that I transferred departments.”

Another former employee, Kara Johnson, who left in 2021, wrote a statement to leadership in Sony’s Women at PlayStation group (Women@PS) wherein she said at least 10 women left Sony’s Rancho Bernardo office in four months. “Though a certain amount of attrition after PS5 launch was expected, the disproportionate number of women leaving has alarmed leadership.”

One woman called out a third-party investigation at Sony that uncovered a “great imbalance in terms of employee distribution” on her team.

Sony’s alleged sexual harassment, sexism and other problems are not unique. The videogame industry has had to deal with pervasive sexual sexism for the last few years. Riot Games is the creator behind League of LegendsAfter a Kotaku report exposing widespread sexism in Japan, the defendant was required to agree to $100 million for a settlement of a class action lawsuit. Activision Blizzard faces multiple lawsuits over its alleged sexist cultural. Ubisoft is the makers of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the company is facing a “great exodus” of workers due to low pay, better opportunities, and frustration with the company’s workplace misconduct allegations.

It’s not just limited to big studios. You are now gone homeSteve Gaynor, creator, resigned as Creative Director Roads Open after 10 women left during the game’s development due to his alleged behavior.

Polygon reached out at Sony to request comment. We’ll update this story should we hear back.