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Eight current and former PlayStation workers have come forward in support of a gender discrimination lawsuit against the company.
In November 2021, former Sony IT security analyst Emma Majo filed a lawsuit (opens in new tab) against Sony, alleging that the company “tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees.” She also claims that she was fired “soon after” she brought gender-related pay disparities to the company’s attention.
Now, statements of support from seven former and one current PlayStation employees have been filed (via Axios (opens in new tab)). One statement, from former senior director Maria Harrington, outlined a culture of “systemic sexism” in which women’s achievements were largely ignored by leadership. Harrington also claimed that some men at the company would share “filthy jokes and images of women.”
Other statements outlined an extremely high turnover of female employees for “reasons relating to sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and not being able to earn a promotion.” In her statement, former employee Kara Johnson said that at least ten women had left her office in just four months. That level of attrition, even after the launch of the PS5, was said to have “alarmed leadership.”
In an adjacent statement, Majo’s lawyer said that other women had declined to speak about their experiences, as they were “too scared” of retaliation from Sony.
Sony is far from the only company to have faced similar allegations in recent years. The Activision-Blizzard lawsuit is another ongoing, high-profile case, while Riot Games settled its own lawsuit in December for $100 million.
