More Women Come Forward After Sony Pushed for Lawsuit Dismissal
All is not well for Sony, it seems. Last month, Sony asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit that had been filed against them by a former employee, IT security analyst Emma Majo.
Sony explained to the court that Majo’s suit was not just for herself, but all women who have been discriminated against because it would not work. Or at least, as Sony’s lawyers stated that the lawsuit “fails to identify a single policy, practice or procedure at [PlayStation] that allegedly formed the basis of any widespread intentional discrimination or had a discriminatory impact on women.”
Majo’s response, or rather her lawyer’s response, was to include eight other women in the suit against PlayStation. The women have reported that there have been various problems that have arisen in the American PlayStation Office. Problems that the women report range from their work or ideas being ignored, comments about their family life that did not happen to their male co-workers, difficulty with promotion, as well as unwanted advances and demeaning comments.
Marie Harrington, a veteran of PlayStation and Sony Online Entertainment, (for sixteen years in fact), has noted that there has been a lack of promotional opportunities for women. She even cited an example during one session for promoting people into senior positions, that only four women were being considered- whereas compared to the 70 men were being considered at the same time.
Kara Johnson, a former program manager, has also cited that there have been at least 10 women who had left her particular office in Rancho Bernardo, California, due to Sony not being able to “appropriately handle toxic environments,” according to her statement.
Sony has not commented currently about the other women joining the lawsuit. However, there will be a hearing on Sony’s request for the gender discrimination lawsuit next month, as Majo’s party has met their request with this reply.