Eight women have offered statements that support Emma Majo’s lawsuit against Japanese video game giant Sony PlayStation regarding sexual discrimination—leading to a distinct sense of hypocrisy.
In November 2021, former security analyst Emma Majo brought a case against Sony PlayStation, alleging she had suffered sexual discrimination. Sony PlayStation responded by asking the court to toss the lawsuit out, arguing it lacked any specific details to base its accusations.
However, as of Tuesday this week, Majo’s lawyer has offered the court eight different accounts from former and current Sony PlayStation employees that support the lawsuit. Essentially, while not necessarily corroborating Majo’s case, they agree Sony has a problem with their workplace culture.
Reports state that these testimonies reference sexual harassment, inappropriate advances, pornographic material in the office, and women not being treated fairly in terms of promotions. Which, unfortunately, echoes the noise that’s been blasting out of the Activision Blizzard offices for the last year.
In response to that situation, Sony CEO Jim Ryan quickly called out what was happening at Activision Blizzard, stating they had “not done enough” to end their toxic workplace culture of sexual discrimination. A statement which, at least in this new light, hasn’t aged terribly well.
Even more hypocritical and disappointing is that, according to reports, Sony PlayStation veteran Marie Harrington sent an email in 2018 to superiors linked to an article on sexual discrimination at Nike.
Her comment was the following: “Can we address this before PlayStation has its own national news article?“. And she deserved an instant promotion for that valuable warning, which nonetheless appears to have gone unheeded.
Sony recently asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging widespread sexism at PlayStation. Cited lack of facts
Yesterday, 8 more women came forward to share their stories
"I believe Sony is not equipped to appropriately handle toxic environments" https://t.co/GZUxMMSXVs
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) March 9, 2022
If this is all true, and I can’t see any reason to dispute these reports, then Sony PlayStation not only has to answer to the charges Emma Majo has brought against them; they need to answer for their own two-faced hypocrisy.
Words of support and solidarity, as well as the condemnation of sexual discrimination, should be applauded. Not before one makes sure their own employees are being looked after first.
Before stating someone else hasn’t done enough, try and make sure you yourself have.
