Former Marathon reboot director sues Sony and Bungie for $200 million, alleging wrongful termination

Former Destiny 2 and Marathon reboot director Christopher Barrett is suing Bungie and Sony for $200 million, claiming the companies “deliberately destroyed [his] reputation by falsely and publicly implying… that he had engaged in sexual misconduct.”

News of Barrett’s departure from Bungie came earlier this year, amid claims of a leadership shakeup. However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier later reported, after speaking directly with some of those involved, that Barrett was fired from the studio following an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior made by “at least eight” female employees.

At the time of Bloomberg’s report, Barrett responded: “I never understood my communications to be unwanted and would never have thought they could have made anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am very sorry.” . “.

Three months later, however, Barrett is in a much more combative mood. He has now filed a complaint in a Delaware court accusing Sony and Bungie of “deliberately [destroying his] reputation by falsely and publicly implying that they had “investigated” [him] and ‘discovered’ that he had engaged in sexual misconduct.” The filing continues: “[They] He didn’t care that any of it was true. “They had blatant motivations for their brazen scheme: (i) to avoid paying Barrett the nearly $50 million she is owed under her employment agreement, and (ii) to deflect blame and divert attention from her massive business failures.”

Barrett goes on to allege that the internal investigation into her behavior was a “premeditated plan” and a “sham.” To support these claims, the lawsuit argues that Barrett was told about the investigation “out of the blue”; “it was not recommended that you bring an attorney to the interview”; he was “asked questions about communications with his colleagues, but was never shown” these communications; “He was never asked if he had ever engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct, if he had ever sent inappropriate sexual or pornographic materials to a co-worker, or if he had ever retaliated against a co-worker for rejecting his advances or discriminated against a female colleague. on the basis of her sex,” and instead “they asked her questions about ordinary communications.

Barrett then alleges that three weeks into the investigation, Sony and Bungie revealed that they were firing him for “serious misconduct,” but he “refused to explain further,” and that they told him that “nothing he could say would do anything.” a difference, despite never being given “Give him a chance to address the allegations in the first place.” It is also stated: “No one ever told Barrett who had made the decision to fire him or even what conduct he was being fired for.”

Then comes the allegation that Bungie and Sony “improperly withheld nearly $50 million owed to Barrett for his shares in Bungie” following his firing, and that the defendants then “completed the Machiavellian trifecta by providing wildly misleading statements to Bloomberg designed to : (i) deflect blame for the poor performance of Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie and video game production delays by throwing shade at Barrett for his role in Marathon and (ii) shifting the blame for his own public #MeToo problems by falsely implying that allegations of serious misconduct had been directed at Barrett, when they were not.”

The lawsuit insists that “Barrett did not do anything remotely resembling serious misconduct or ‘Cause’ as defined in the Retainer Agreements… and there could be no credible allegation that he did so because Barrett had a history impeccable twenty-five years at Bungie.”

Barrett maintains that Sony and Bungie’s actions ‘irreparably harmed’ [him] financially, physically and emotionally” and that the goal of his lawsuit is “to recover tens of millions of dollars owed to him for actions he earned through twenty-five years of hard work, to recover the retaliation he has suffered, to restore his hard-earned reputation so much effort and to be compensated for the falsehoods knowingly and maliciously spread about him by the defendants.”

Barrett is seeking $200 million in damages, including $45,579,627 (plus interest) owed under her employment conditions, another $45,579,627 (plus interest) for violating the Washington Wage Reimbursement Act, and “not less than $100 millions of dollars” for defamation and punitive damages. He is also requesting to be reinstated as the franchise’s game director in Marathon.

Eurogamer has contacted Sony and Bungie for comment.