Sony dismisses claims it destroyed former director's reputation, alleging he engaged in "consistent misconduct"

gamesindustry.biz:

Sony has hit back at claims it maligned the reputation of former Marathon reboot director Chris Barrett, purporting its investigations had uncovered "consistent" misconduct wherein he would target a "lower-level, female employee he wasn't working with directly, initially engaged in friendly conversation, and progressively pushed boundaries", "often referenc[ing] his wealth and his ability to advance their careers."

Back in December, former Marathon reboot director Barrett filed a lawsuit against Bungie and Sony for "deliberately destroy[ing his] reputation by falsely, and publicly, insinuating they had 'investigated' Barrett and 'found' he had engaged in sexual misconduct," and to avoid paying him a $45 million payment.

Barrett was fired by Bungie last year following an internal investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour against female colleagues. In court papers, Barrett's lawyers suggest his former employer "did not care that none of it was true; they had blatant motivations for their brazen scheme," only wanting to "shift blame for and deflect attention away from their massive business failures."

As first reported by Game File's Stephen Totilo, Sony has now responded to Barrett's claims.

"The investigation revealed that Barrett's misconduct with each employee was consistent: he targeted a lower-level, female employee he wasn't working with directly, initially engaged in friendly conversation, and progressively pushed boundaries with the employee by making subtle references to her physical appearance or expressing his interest romantically," its response stated.

"Barrett attempted to create an unprofessional level of intimacy with his victims. He requested to follow personal Instagram accounts and would express anger to the women if they failed to respond to his messages. He would bring up inappropriate topics like their body, their relationships, his marriage, or his desire to date them.

"He would demand that they participate in sexually charged games of 'Truth