A statement has been issued by game development studio Quantic Dream following the conclusion of a court case within France's Court of Appeal of Paris. The case at hand regards an ex-Quantic Dream employee's accusations regarding a toxic and hostile work environment, with specific reference to photoshopped images depicting bigotry shared via group email. The appeals court sided with Quantic Dream, dismissing all claims were and compelling the employee to pay the studio's legal costs, as well as damages.
Quantic Dream's statement in response to the court's decision expands well beyond just the case at hand to challenge many of the accusations stemming from a 2018 report published by French media. Quantic Dream cites multiple court cases from the past several years, including three judgments made in the Paris Labor Court and two rulings from the Court of Appeal of Paris that dismissed cases accusing Quantic Dream of discrimination and a "toxic" atmosphere.
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Further, Quantic Dream says that staff representatives "expressed unambiguously" that there was an "absence of a 'toxic atmosphere' or any kind of discrimination" at the company in January 2018. It goes on to claim that employees who spoke publically had their testimonies "violently attacked" by people online using false identities. Also, that the goal of these people was to propagate the allegations against the company and that they were "aimed at deliberately tarnishing the studio's image and damaging its team." It isn't clear if Quantic Dream is following up on these accusations of harassment against employees and the company from certain specific individuals.
Even further, Quantic Dream goes on to cite multiple inspections, investigations, audits, internal surveys, and independent media investigations sourced from different organizations that have occurred between 2018 and now. These include a URSSAF inspection into accusations Quantic Dream's financials and labor practices, internal tax audits, an independent survey run by People Vox investigating harassment and toxic behavior, and more. Quantic Dream says that the conclusion of these deep looks into the studio "shows indisputably that the allegations contained in these articles were untrue and likely to damage the studio's honor and reputation."
In a concluding thought, Quantic Dream states that it's reaffirming its values of "humanism, inclusiveness, and the right for individuals to express themselves uniquely." Additionally, Quantic Dream reasserted that it's "committed" to a work environment that is serene, professional, and fulfilling for all of its employees as it moves forward towards its future plans.
Obviously, Quantic Dream has a vested interest in presenting itself in the best possible light especially with a new game announcement forthcoming. Legal rulings, audits, and labor investigations aren't necessarily representative of what the public may find ethical. For example, Quantic Dream did pay a fine over employees sharing over 600 vulgar photoshops of co-workers in group emails, which the studio decided not to appeal. However, it's also inarguably to Quantic Dream's benefit to have these legal cases complete and found in its favor. This assertive statement from Quantic Dream is proof enough of that.
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Source: Quantic Dream, PC Gamer, PCGamesN, TheGamer