A landmark trial is currently taking place in France, involving three former Ubisoft executives who are accused of sexual harassment, bullying, and in one particular instance, attempted sexual assault.
As reported by The Guardian, the court in Seine-Saint-Denis is currently hearing about alleged workplace misconduct that took place at Ubisoft Paris in Montreuil, France, from 2012 to 2020.
Ubisoft is of course known for major popular Windows PC and Xbox games ranging from Assassin's Creed to Far Cry and The Division. Although a few years ago, whistle-blowers began sounding the alarm about conduct within the organization, leading to a variety of firings and even arrests.
One member of staff Ubisoft is quoted as likening the office atmosphere to "a boys club above the law." Here's everything we know so far about the trial.
Be warned that the following may make for difficult reading.
Who is on trial and what are the accusations?
There are 3 former executives on trial, with varying degrees of offences.
Serge Hascoët, Former Chief Creative Officer, resigned in 2020 and is accused of making repeated sexist and harassing comments, including telling colleagues in a meeting that he should have sex with a senior employee who was irritating him, in front of everyone, “to show how to calm her." He allegedly handed a young female employee a tissue he had used to blow his nose and said, "You can resell this, it's worth gold at Ubisoft." Hascoet is also accused of asking a Muslim employee after the 2015 Paris attacks if they "supported" the terror organization ISIS.
Guillaume Patrix, a former Game Director who was fired after an internal investigation, is accused of psychologically harassing employees. These alleged incidents include punching walls, miming hitting staff, cracking a whip near colleagues’ faces and literally setting a man's beard on fire. Patrix also allegedly drew swastikas in a female colleague’s notebook during a meeting.
The third executive on trial is Tommy François, former Vice President of Editorial and Creative Services. He has also been fired. François faces some of the more disturbing accusations, including playing pornographic films in an open-plan office, regularly making offensive comments about the appearance of female colleagues. One such female employee has accused François of forcing her to wear a skirt to do a handstand in the office, as well as tying her to a chair and sending her in an elevator to a different floor. Other accusations include attempting to forcibly kiss a young woman at a Christmas party while others allegedly restrained her.
It is said that many employees were too afraid to file complaints, fearing retaliation.
All three defendants have denied all charges. Hascoët's lawyer stated that his client "categorically denies having harassed any colleagues" and claims he had no knowledge of any misconduct by others at Ubisoft.
Business Times is following the trial and has reported that Serge Hascoët, while "unaware" of incidents, has admitted after hours of questioning that some "misplaced" comments were made with sexual connotations towards female employees.
Ubisoft has been trying to project a more positive image
Ubisoft has been publicly pushing a progressive, inclusive image in recent years, making this case particularly undermining of those efforts as more is made public.
The company has already found enough internal evidence to fire two of the three individuals named in the lawsuit. Back in 2020 when the news of the accusations broke, Ubisoft published a statement about Serge Hascoët stepping down and changes made as "part of the comprehensive work the company is doing to improve and strengthen its workplace culture."
Regardless of Ubisoft's stance on the matter, the publicity of this case will no doubt be bad for the company's image. The case bears a resemblance to the Activision Blizzard sexual harassment case in 2021, which alleged a similar frat-house workplace culture. Though, ultimately, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) withdrew all of its allegations of sexual harassment.
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