PlayStation responds to harassment allegations as more women speak out in lawsuit

Sony has responded to allegations of workplace harassment by former PlayStation staff as eight more women speak out against the company. Sony is taking the “newly submitted declarations seriously”, but still aims to dismiss the original lawsuit.

The workplace environment at PlayStation was put under the microscope at the end of 2021 as former IT security analyst Emma Majo filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against Sony in November.

In it, she claimed she was wrongfully terminated after speaking out about sexist practices at the company.

As reported by Axios, the case states women at PlayStation are subjected to “disparate treatment in pay and work opportunities”.

Now, eight more women have spoken out about Sony’s practices in a new class-action lawsuit filing, forcing the company to address the matter publicly.

Both former and current employees are involved in the proposed case, according to Axios, including company veterans of more than 15 years. Allegations range from excluding women from senior roles, an exodus of women following sexual harassment, and more.

Kara Johnson, a former program manager at PlayStation, stated “I believe Sony is not equipped to appropriately handle toxic environments” in the filing.

Sony addressed the new class action allegations a week after the initial March 10 filing.

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“To be sure, SIE [PlayStation] takes the substance of the newly submitted declarations seriously,” it said.

“Although most are by former employees who no longer work at SIE, SIE either has addressed or will address the issues raised in them in due course, as SIE values its female employees and takes proactive steps to ensure they have every opportunity to thrive and be heard.”

However, the company is still not backing down in its lawsuit against Majo.

In February, Sony asked the court to dismiss the case, stating it “fails to identify a single policy, practice or procedure at SIE that allegedly formed the basis of any widespread intentional discrimination or had a discriminatory impact on women.”

A hearing on the new class-action lawsuit is expected in April.