Tommy François Leaves Ubisoft Due to Harassment Allegations

According to GamesIndustry, Tommy François has left Ubisoft due to allegations of misconduct, assault, and harassment. François was one of the key members of the recently restructured editorial team.

Reportedly, Ubisoft said that François has “left the company, effective immediately.” The company announced in late June investigations of the allegations made against Ubisoft executives with “external consultants” Tommy François and Maxime Béland were the ones under heavier scrutiny, the latter has already left the company via resignation.

We have started by launching investigations into the allegations with the support of specialized external consultants. Based on the outcomes, we are fully committed to taking any and all appropriate disciplinary action. As these investigations are ongoing, we can’t comment further.

We are also auditing our existing policies, processes, and systems to understand where these have broken down, and to ensure we can better prevent, detect, and punish inappropriate behavior.

Bloomberg reports that “according to people familiar with the situation” Maxime Béland and Tommy François, are the two high-ranking employees under heavy scrutiny.  Each is facing “at least three claims of misconduct among a flurry of a Twitter post from named and anonymous accuser”. However, other executives at Ubisoft have also been accused of having indecent conduct toward employees.

Ubisoft also fired PR director Stone Chin, the publisher decided as a way to fix the toxic work culture established in the company. Chin also has an accusation of sexual assault made against him, over an incident from 2012. Other high rankings executives who had left recently include chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, managing director of Canadian studios Yannis Mallat, and global head of HR Cécile Cornet.

Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot released a letter explaining that the publisher will once again change its editorial team, as the employees who left or are under investigation were mostly on that team.

“We are not looking for a quick fix, but rather a structural shift at Ubisoft that fully aligns with our values – values that do not tolerate toxic behaviors and where everyone feels safe to speak out,” … “We must do everything we can to ensure no one is in these situations ever again … I will need everyone to work together to build and implement them so that respect for others remains one of the pillars of Ubisoft’s culture.”

Ubisoft is now facing a collective lawsuit against them from Solidaires Informatique, the defense, led by Maude Beckers, promises total confidentiality and legal support.

Source: GamesIndustry

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