Sony Interactive Entertainment Faces Its Own Lawsuit Filed By Former Employee

Activision Blizzard may be under heavy scrutiny, but it is not alone. In response to the bombshell report by the WSJ, the leaders of all three console makers – PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo – have voiced similar messages of dissatisfaction with the way the publisher has responded. But it looks like Sony Interactive Entertainment may have thrown some stones while being in a glass house itself.

Axios reports that a former PlayStation IT security analyst of about six years, Emma Majo, was fired after speaking out against the discrimination she faced. This then leads to the suit she filed. She is also requesting to expand the case into a class action for any other women under the company with a similar experience.

The lawsuit details that she was never promoted for the years she has been with the company and had been sort of demoted once. She also noted that this was common for women in SIE and that men in the company were frequently promoted out of cycle, as in outside of the annual performance review windows.

This year, when Majo finally spoke out against the discrimination she faced, she got a letter that said she was being let go. The letter mentioned that the company was terminating an entire department, but Majo noted it was not a department that she was a part of.

It’s quite the awkward timing for SIE. This is considering PlayStation head Jim Ryan just sent a statement to staff (which found its way to the media) about how the company is dissatisfied with Activision Blizzard’s response to the WSJ report. With a lawsuit of this nature coming back to the company after its own posturing, it’s an opportunity for Sony Interactive Entertainment to perform in a manner that it defines as satisfactory.

You can read the lawsuit itself, linked below. Unless you’re into all the legalese, Emma Majo’s account of the events start on page 13.

(Source: Axios [1], [2])