Highlights
A former Bungie HR manager is suing the company for alleged retaliation and wrongful termination after reporting a racial discrimination incident to supervisors.
Bungie is facing allegations of firing its HR manager after the manager disagreed with the decision to terminate a Black employee who had raised concerns about being racially discriminated against by their supervisor. The former manager is now pursuing legal action, seeking compensation for lost wages, emotional distress, and legal expenses. A jury trial has been scheduled for January 2024.
Bungie is facing a lawsuit from a former HR manager who alleges retaliation and wrongful termination. The former employee reported a potential incident of racial discrimination to her supervisors. She was hired by Bungie in May 2022, shortly after reports of a toxic work culture at the Destiny 2 studio emerged.
Destiny 2 remains Bungie's flagship title, more than six years after its release in September 2017. Both the online first-person shooter and Bungie itself have undergone significant changes during this time, including major gameplay updates and management restructuring. In January 2022, Sony announced its acquisition of Bungie for $3.6 billion, a deal that was finalized just six months later in July 2022. Over the past year, Bungie has intensified its efforts to combat cheaters and harassers who impact Destiny 2 and its developers. Additionally, there are reports that Sony exerted pressure on Bungie to address internal issues relating to the studio's work culture.
According to a recent report by IGN, Ingrid Alm, a former HR manager, has filed a lawsuit against the developer of Destiny 2. She claims that she was unfairly terminated after reporting a case of racial bias involving a Bungie supervisor and an employee referred to as "James Smith." Alm joined Bungie in May 2022 and was asked to investigate the performance of James Smith, who had expressed concerns about being racially targeted as the only Black employee on a team of 50. Alm shared the details of this situation with her own supervisor and recommended diversity training for Smith's supervisor. However, her recommendation was met with hostility and denial. The reason given for denying her recommendation was that the supervisor had been with the company for a long time and was highly regarded.
After her recommendation was rejected, Alm accused Bungie of endorsing the termination of Smith's employment. She strongly disagreed, alleging racial bias in the proposed action. In the weeks following the launch of Season of Plunder, Alm sought advice on the September 2022 incident from Dr. Courtney Benjamin, Bungie's director of equity and inclusion. Alm also proposed that Smith be given a warning instead of being terminated, which greatly angered her supervisor upon learning about the conversation with Benjamin. Consequently, in a review later that month, Alm was classified as "needing improvement" and subsequently had her email and Bungie platform access revoked.
Toward the end of the month, Alm discovered that Bungie had accepted her resignation, despite her not intending to resign. The former HR manager further asserts that she refused to sign a document stating that she had "voluntarily resigned." Moreover, Alm received no response from Bungie's chief people officer, Holly Barbacovi, after seeking help via email.
Bungie refutes Alm's account without offering additional details. Alm is pursuing legal action based on allegations of retaliation and unjust dismissal, seeking compensation for lost wages, emotional distress, and legal expenses. The jury trial is set to take place on January 22, 2024, just one month before the release of Destiny 2's highly anticipated expansion, The Final Shape.
