PlayStation Responds To Allegations Of Sexism

Sony has responded to the recent allegations of workplace sexism, saying that it is taking the reports "seriously."

On March 9, following a lawsuit that was filed in November last year, it was reported that eight more women stepped forward with their own accounts of sexist treatment while working for the company. The eight accounts included allegations of "demeaning comments, unwelcome advances, a lack of attention paid to their work or ideas," and "a sense that it was harder for women to be promoted in the company."

Now, Sony has released a new statement within a filing (first spotted by Axios) that addresses the allegations, despite initially denying "any widespread intentional discrimination" and asking the court to throw out the lawsuit.

"To be sure, SIE takes the substance of the newly submitted declarations seriously… Although most are by former employees who no longer work at SIE, SIE either has addressed or will address the issues raised in them in due course, as SIE values its female employees and takes proactive steps to ensure they have every opportunity to thrive and be heard."

One statement from an anonymous plaintiff alleged that she "observed favoritism towards males at Sony including during large meetings. For instance, during a large meeting consisting mostly of males with some females, suggestions from an experienced female were ignored while the same suggestion by a male employee was recognized and respected."

The same person also alleged that female employees were passed up for job promotions and were given to male employees instead--even though the female employee was qualified--as well as an instance where a male senior manager was "getting inappropriately close to me" at an event involving alcohol, who proceeded to hug and whisper in her ear.

Sony also apparently held a meeting about gender equality where there were five male and no female employees on the panel. The panel said they tried to get a female employee to join, but they couldn't get her on a plane to attend the meeting on time.