Ubisoft is changing the way it addresses allegations of sexual misconduct.
Ubisoft, and the industry in general, has had a hellish week. The French publisher has specifically been dealing with serious allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct against several of his potential clients.
After issuing a fairly standard public statement, Ubisoft allegedly moved to suspend two of its executives. According to a new Gamasutra report, the company is also forming a council to help it better address these issues appropriately.
An internal email, published by Gamasutra, outlines a plan to establish a “multidisciplinary working group” whose job will be to create “best solutions and tools to detect, report and resolve any serious incident or problem promptly and impartially.” As previously reported, an impartial group of third parties will also assist with these investigations.
“I have collected all my direct reports to address this issue and your comments. I would like us to thoroughly review all of our systems so that these kinds of situations cannot happen again, ”CEO Yves Guillemot wrote in an email to Ubisoft staff.
Director of talent and communications, Cecile Cornet, explained that the investigations could take “two weeks or two months, depending on the case,” adding that the details of each investigation will not be communicated to protect the confidentiality of all parties. Generally speaking, Ubisoft is auditing its own process to deal with similar allegations in the future.
“Some of these investigations end in sanctions (warnings with required training, suspensions, dismissals), while others are unfounded. I hear the need for more transparency, and one of the ways we will do this is through better monitoring and sharing indicators of our position, ”Cornet wrote.
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In more practical terms, Ubisoft will also launch an “anonymous online reporting tool” later this month, offering all human resources managers and managers mandatory diversity and inclusion training.
“[The online tool] It will be managed by the Corporate Social Responsibility team at headquarters, ”Cornet revealed. “Meanwhile, we have established [a] mailing list and I want to thank those of you who have already communicated and with whom we are in contact.
“Diversity and inclusion trainings have started at multiple locations, but we must go further and provide targeted training on bullying, sexism and all forms of discrimination in the workplace.”
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