Sadly, it is nothing new that in 2022 women are still feeling insecure almost everywhere. But what’s been happening at workplaces worldwide is terrible. This is not the first time we learned about a video game development o publishing company being shady with their workplace environment.
This year alone, we heard a lot from Activision Blizzard’s case, which has been genuinely discouraging for female gamers and workers who revolve around the company and the video game industry. But unfortunately, new issues keep coming up as women keep speaking up.
NEW HARASSMENT CASES HAVE SURFACED AT NINTENDO
Today, Nintendo of America was targeted for harrasment and mistreatment accusations. So, kindly enough, Kotaku went deep to investigate what was happening at one of the industry's most wholesome places to work (allegedly.)
Here is a fragment of the entire story.
Two years ago, a female game tester, let's call her “H,” had a bitter experience that led her to quit her dream job at Nintendo of America after nearly a decade of working there. Everything began when a group chat on Team intended for memes turned into heavier (and more disgusting) topics of conversation.
H revealed that some of the conversations she read on this group chat came from a male translator that posted screenshots about why Vaporeon was the best Pokémon to have sex with how it’s okay to be sexually attracted to Paimon (Genshin Impact) despite the character’s childlike appearance, voice, and personality.
Immediately after seeing this, H tried to escalate the issue to Aerotek, the staffing company she was contracted under while working at the Redmond, Washington headquarters.
“Nintendo was almost like a nightmare. It’s sad because I love Nintendo; I grew up with Nintendo. I was so excited to join Nintendo when I first got there, and I thought I was going somewhere,” said Hannah. “My supervisors told me I was doing such a good job.”
H claimed that Aerotek management warned her to be less vocal about the incident. Her workmates blamed her for reporting those screenshots; meanwhile, the male translator only had to attend sexual harassment training to “make amends.”
The translator who made the sexual comments in the group chat was a full-time Nintendo employee. Working for Nintendo meant the third-party contracting company couldn’t terminate his employment. However, H didn’t feel safe with Aerotek’s response. She quit because she felt her workplace didn’t protect her from sexually inappropriate behavior from men.
Worse, past and present female employees who work on Nintendo games and many others felt that the Redmond, Washington office had a problem treating women with respect.
Several months ago, Kotaku contacted Aerotek managers whom H had reported the incident. Unfortunately, they haven’t responded so far.
IT TURNS OUT THAT THIS ISN’T AEROTEK’S FIRST TIME
Kotaku found out that Aerotek had more than one case to worry about in this matter: “According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Aerotek has had multiple labor lawsuits filed against it. And Aerotek has previously been embroiled in controversy for discriminatory business practices. Last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission forced the company to pay over $3 million to settle an anti-discrimination lawsuit regarding ‘age, sex, and race.’”
This didn’t stop there. Kotaku ten sourced ten sources for their article, all of whom worked at Nintendo at different moments in the past decade. They told a story of a corporate culture where sexist behavior was commonplace, and minimal action was taken to address it. Most requested anonymity because, sadly, retaliation could mean a loss of job opportunities throughout the gaming industry.
Oddly enough, as Kotaku reported the conditions of contract workers, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser “acknowledged” the media allegations. He said that Nintendo has “zero-tolerance for inappropriate conduct, including harassment, discrimination or intimidation.”
Naturally, Kotaku reached out to ask about what steps Nintendo has taken to enforce its zero-tolerance policy for contract employees, but they haven’t responded just yet.
If you want to read the detailed version of Kotaku’s research and H’s case, you can read the complete article here.
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