In late October 2017, former Naughty Dog Environment Artist David Ballard claimed he was sexually harassed while working at the studio. At the time, the company quickly replied and claimed that an internal investigation had revealed no evidence regarding it. While things went quiet for some time, earlier this week Ballard took to Twitter to lament on the fact that nothing had ever come of it, and then took things a step further by publicly naming the man he was allegedly harassed by.
It's been 2 and a half years since I was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a lead. And 2 years and 2 months since I told Sony PlayStation HR that I was sexually harassed and then promptly fired. I still don't feel like I have the dignity or respect because of it.
— David Ballard (@DBal) May 7, 2018
If Sony PlayStation came out and said, yes, he's telling the truth, I'd be so relieved and happy.
— David Ballard (@DBal) May 7, 2018
I mean, do I need to name the harasser to get justice
— David Ballard (@DBal) May 7, 2018
Thank you. His name is Robert Cogburn. Former Naughty Dog co-president Christophe Balestra accused me of wanting to fire Robert when I told him I couldn’t work with him anymore. HR was present. And it was Sony PlayStation HR Heather Zavadil who I told about the harassment.
— David Ballard (@DBal) May 10, 2018
As you can tell from the tweet above, Ballard names Robert Cogburn, who has worked on almost all of the Uncharted series and served as the Lead Multiplayer Designer for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, as the man he had been referring to a couple of months ago. Though the tweet was shared yesterday, nothing seems to have come from it just yet, with neither Cogburn or Naughty Dog commenting on the situation. While we’ll make sure to keep you updated with this story should more information be revealed, it seems like this situation hasn’t ended just yet.
For a brief recap of Ballard’s comments last October, check out below:
Former Naughty Dog Environment Artist and Multiplayer Level Layout Artist David Ballard has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment. Ballard says that the incident occurred in late 2015, and that his working environment became increasingly toxic due to the harasser being a lead. According to Ballard, when he went to the Sony PlayStation human resources department in February 2016 (after suffering from a mental breakdown), he was fired the next day. Ballard says he was then offered $20,000 to stay quiet about the ordeal, but he declined the offer.
Ballard worked twice for Naughty Dog, and worked on a number of games including Uncharted 2–4, and The Last of Us. His first stint for the company was from 2009 to 2014, he then spent a year at Ubisoft San Francisco as a Senior Environment Artist only to return to Naughty Dog in May 2015. His most recent stint at the company ended in 2016, after the allegations occurred.
We’ll make sure to update this story as more information comes to light.
[Source: Wccftech]
