Naughty Dog is in heat

Most legit named company ever?

Naughty Dog Responds to Sexual Harassment Allegations

Naughty Dog has issued a statement concerning the sexual harassment allegations that recently surfaced from a former employee.

On Saturday, ex-Naughty Dog employee David Ballard shared his story via Twitter where he claimed that he was a victim of sexual abuse while employed with the developer. After detailing the story and an alleged coverup by Sony and Naughty Dog through several tweets, Ballard’s claims received significant publicity and were eventually brought to the attention of the developer.

More context on Ballard’s story can be seen in his tweet below in addition to the full response from Naughty Dog, a statement that appears to refute Ballard’s claims while reiterating a company stance against sexual harassment.

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David Ballard's Claims

In Ballard’s initial tweet, he claimed that he was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a superior, an altercation that soon led to the deterioration of his position within the company.

Expanding on the claims, Ballard said that he spoke to Sony PlayStation HR about the allegations and was subsequently fired the following day with a statement that said his job was “no longer needed.” From there, he said that he was offered a $20,000 deal if he didn’t talk to anyone about the termination, a deal that he declined.

Ballard said that he felt strong enough to now share his story in light of the resolve that he’s seen in others coming forward with sexual harassment claims recently in the TV and film industry.

Naughty Dog has issued a response to Ballard’s sexual harassment allegations, the full response seen below:

“We have recently read on social media that an ex-employee of Naughty Dog, Dave Ballard, claims he was sexually harassed when he worked at Naughty Dog. We have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment. Harassment and inappropriate conduct have no place at Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously. We value every single person who works at Naughty Dog and Sony interactive Entertainment. It is of utmost importance to us that we maintain a safe, productive workplace environment that allows us all to channel our shared passion for making games.”

No further reports of communications between Ballard, Naughty Dog, and Sony are available at this time.

So much for being gods, although the naughty is appropriate.

And I think there was a discussion about this in the lounge about how isn't the right place for this.

must of been someone desperate that looks like this

Saw that yesterday.

That sucks.

@KBFloYd: I’d hit.

Disgusting... especially if Sony trying to cover it up is true.

@FireEmblem_Man ask Blue_hazy about it and he stated it's not SW material and so with that, this thread won't even last long :(

I think it's SW material but what do I know?

lol

yea maybe i should have chose someone ugly :P

but she dressed a bit butch and i figured that's how the girl must of dressed or acted.

This stuff happens in almost every industry, what surprised me not that it happens but how companies don't look after their bottom line (by that extent, by protecting the rights of their employees). Doing stuff like this just opens them up to lawsuits, expensive civil litigation, and damages, and bad press. Speaking just from a base perspective of self preservation, taking the route Sony did was any but that. Still, details of this incident are very vague.

I personally don't give a shit what happened as long as they keep making good games and that is all I care about.

Classy.

Yeah not cool...

dafuq is wrong with you

1. They make movies. Not games.

2. You're sick.

Agreed. Whatever Michael Jackson did or didn't do, his music is cool. Likewise OJ Simpson was very funny in Naked Gun.

Another 10/10 exclusive from Naughty God. Thanks $ony.

Typical Sony trying to cover up a sexual harassment case, what a disgusting company.

First Harvey Weinstein and now Naughty Dogs is getting on the sex drive XD

Naughty Dog issued a statement, here

We have recently read on social media that an ex-employee of Naughty Dog, Dave Ballard, claims he was sexually harassed when he worked at Naughty Dog. We have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment. Harassment and inappropriate conduct have no place at Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously. We value every single person who works at Naughty Dog and Sony interactive Entertainment. It is of utmost importance to us that we maintain a safe, productive workplace environment that allows us all to channel our shared passion for making games.

Blada blada bla, PR Bull. Please be stupid.

@uninspiredcup: Just keep making good games. Sucks these things happen, but odd they always seem to come out after the person was fired. $20,000 isn't much of an offer. I'm guessing whatever it was wasn't too big of a deal.

I'm thinking that maybe demonizing a company over such claims, especially those that aren't proven, is a little overly expected from the immature internet.

I for one don't think any less of the company from some allegations.

to be fair....

micheal made that music before he went phsyco

and OJ made that movie before he killed people.

Exactly. It makes it all alright.

A grown man got sexually harassed at work...

@KBFloYd: To be fair, they were both declared not guilty in court.

Like rape or sexual assault, sexual harrassment is not something that is only commited against females. There are cases where the victims are males.

And yes, adult males can be victims of sexual harrassment. This practice does not know any age boundaries.

Good thing I’m dumping my Sony consoles

Sounds like what Fox News had to issue, 3 times.

Oh someone else on the news is getting shit for sexually harassing people?

Now is my time to speak up!

Christ people are stupid.

I'd argue you're the one who's stupid if you don't understand why people voice these things in large groups.

Some of you must be guilty until proven innocent types.

Yup

Isn't that Bioware? Where pandering to vocal minorities and prioritising their political agenda is more important than the games they make.

@KBFloYd: Could easily have been another man.

Hahaha is he really upset over a chick talking dirty to him? What a damn loser.

I've... got nothing else on this. Sexual harassment is sexual harassment, no matter who does this.

@NathanDrakeSwag: Could have been a dude though. I’d be all for my female superior wanting to have sex with me but a man is a no-go for me.

Now we know why Bruce Straley left, Naughty Dogs not a safe place to work at

This will be ugly if true and def. could be a critical blow to Sony and possibly the end of Naughty Dog, if these allegations pan out.

It's nice to see people slinging mud before any facts are out and before a court rules one way or the other. Typical fanboy bs on this site though.

It sounds like a case of "he said, she said." If true, it's despicable, but I have a hard time believing it's true. And not because he's a man, but because there doesn't seem to be any evidence outside of his claims.

Lol, no. All that will happen is the person who sexually harassed him will potentially face criminal charges, and whoever at Sony fired him will be liable for a huge civil lawsuit. If anything, Sony will just settle with him to make it go away.

He's probably gay or she was probably old and ugly.

Do you think their innocent?

Who is the accused?

IF true then should have name & shame....go 100% rather than this 50%..."a superior sexually harassed me"...so who is the superior at ND that sexually harassed him?.. wait to see if there's more to this..

Is that so? Tell us how you really feel.

Sounds serious.

I wonder if Neogaf self-destructed after this news.

I would not be shocked if they did. GAF is so pro-Sony up their own asses.