PlayStation Being Sued Over Allegations Of Gender Discrimination

PlayStation is currently facing legal action as a result of a lawsuit claiming that there is 'gender discrimination' within the company. 

Both PlayStation and parent company Sony are named in the document, that has been brought forward by a former employee. 

Why Is PlayStation Being Sued?

The document, that is available to view online, states that the plaintiff alleges "employees who are female or identify as female were not compensated equally to male employees who had substantially similar job classifications, functions, titles, and or duties; were not compensated equally to male employee who performed substantially similar work; were denied equal compensation to similarly situated male employees by being held back to lower pay levels; and/or were denied promotions."

The document goes on to say that 41% of PlayStation owners are female, and despite this, a 2020 study revealed that Sony's Executive Committee was 100% male. 

The allegations include that the complainant was "ignored" by a manager who "only responded to men", that she was "passed over for promotions", and that she was "terminated this year after submitting a gender bias complaint to the company."

In regards to her termination, the complainant states that the reason given for her being let go was the "closure of an internal department", however, she says that she wasn't actually in that department to start with. 

Axios also reports that the woman behind the case is hoping to extend her lawsuit into a class action "on behalf of women who have worked for PlayStation over the last few years."

What's Next For The PlayStation Case?

This comes after Activision Blizzard continues to face scrutiny following allegations of a 'frat boy culture' and a 'misogynistic attitude'.

The publisher behind Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and many more, was presented with a lawsuit from the California Government earlier this year, in which a two-year investigation into the company has reportedly found a misogynistic attitude and reports of sexual assault in the workplace.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) claimed that staff have been subject to routine harassment including 'cube crawls,' - a common affair in which their male employees get intoxicated and 'crawl' through the female work cubicles to engage in 'inappropriate behaviour.'

Following the accusations, there has been an outcry from staff, including walkouts. The company named Jen Oneal as co-leader of the publisher, however just months after this promotion she recently decided to step down.

She claimed that her other co-leader, Mike Ybarra, was being paid more, and according to The Wall Street Journal, within weeks of being named co-leader, she sent an email saying: "It was clear that the company would never prioritize our people the right way. I have been tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against."

There's some unfortunate timing, with these allegations coming to light just days after PlayStation boss Jim Ryan and Xbox's Phil Spencer presented a united front against Activision Blizzard. Nintendo's Doug Bowser also joined in on the conversation, with the big three calling out CEO Bobby Kotick. Now that Sony is seemingly embroiled in the row, we'll have to see if this is the tip of the iceberg or something bigger.