Krafton, Hanging Distance Sued by Former Worker for Sexual Harassment, Wrongful Termination

Content material Warning: This piece accommodates some descriptions of sexual assault.

PUBG and Callisto Protocol studio proprietor Krafton is at the moment being sued within the state of California by a former Krafton worker, who alleges she was sexually assaulted at an trade occasion by Krafton head of enterprise and technique Kevin Kimball, after which fired from the corporate two months later after Krafton failed to analyze the occasion.

This comes from a criticism filed in Los Angeles county in December, first seen by Polygon, through which the plaintiff alleges she was working in Krafton’s publishing division and attended a Hanging Distance (a subsidiary of Krafton, developer of Callisto Protocol) get together following The Recreation Awards on December 8, 2022. On the get together, she claims that she suffered “egregious intercourse harassment and sexual assault” from Kimball on the “alcohol fueled” get together. The plaintiff says she rejected Kimball’s advances, however he “offered her increasingly more alcohol” and at last cornered her in a toilet stall and “compelled himself on the helpless Plaintiff till she was crying and at last escaped.”

The plaintiff goes on to allege her repeated complaints about this conduct had been ignored by Krafton for 2 months, earlier than she was lastly fired on February 15, 2023. She then filed claims with the California Division of Truthful Employment and Housing for statutory violations, and was granted a “proper to sue.”

“Due to Plaintiff’s nice worry, emotional misery, anxieties, bodily signs, emotions of powerlessness and helplessness stemming from the bodily andmental abuse, in addition to lack of safety, discrimination, harassment, hostile work place, stalking, unwelcome, and tortuous conduct and circumstances introduced to her inside her joband job duties within the work place, Plaintiff has, is and might be brought about to undergo previous, current and future damages and losses,” the go well with reads. “Plaintiff has been unable to search out full time employment as her confidence, spirit, belief, interview abilities with potential new employers, and so on., are crushed. She experiences nice discomfort considering of working for a brand new male stranger.”

Kimball was previously the worldwide group supervisor for Insomniac Studios, Sucker Punch, Kojima Productions, and San Diego Studios at PlayStation from 2017 to 2020, after which he grew to become the VP of world advertising for Hanging Distance. He was promoted to go of technique and enterprise growth in January of 2023, per his LinkedIn, only one month after the alleged incident occurred. He departed Krafton in September of 2023, and is at the moment self-employed.

The plaintiff is asking to be awarded damages, lawyer’s charges, and different prices of the go well with.

Replace 1:57pm PT: Krafton has offered IGN with the next assertion:

“We deal with all allegations of improper office conduct with the utmost seriousness. As that is an ongoing authorized matter, we’re unable to touch upon the specifics of the case.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Received a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.