Ex-PlayStation employee alleges gender discrimination at company

"Sony tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees, including female employees and those who identify as female."

What you need to know

• A former Sony PlayStation employee filed a lawsuit against the company Monday alleging gender discrimination in both pay and work opportunities.
• The employee, Emma Majo, is filing on behalf of all female employees who've worked with the company over the past four years, and seeks to expand the lawsuit into a class action lawsuit.
• She alleges that she was terminated from her position for speaking out against discrimination and was given a false reason for that termination.

A former Sony PlayStation employee has filed a lawsuit against the company in a California court on Monday alleging that women at the company have been victims of gender discrimination in regards to pay and promotion opportunities.

"Sony tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees, including female employees and those who identify as female," the suit, uploaded by Axios, states. Specifically, it notes that Sony paid women less than men for equal work and that women were denied promotions.

Emma Majo, a former IT security analyst at PlayStation, is one of many employees that reportedly suffered on behalf of these practices, including lost compenstation and emotional distress. Majo and her lawyers state that she was demoted and then terminated from her position because she spoke up against that discrimination. According to the suit, she was told that the termination was because Sony was eliminating a certain department, but Majo was not in that department.

The team is hoping to extend the complaint into a class action lawsuit on behalf of all employees affected over the past four years, and to receive compensation and damages.

This is just the latest in a string of public outcries in the video game industry over discriminatory practices towards women, people of color, and other marginalized groups. The most public recent incident involves Activision Blizzard, which was the subject of an explosive lawsuit filed in July. Since then, more details have emerged that cast CEO Bobby Kotick as culpable in the fostering of a toxic workplace. Many, including Jim Ryan at PlayStation and Phil Spencer at Xbox, are analyzing their relationships with the company as a result. Over 1,200 Activision Blizzard employees are seeking Kotick's resignation.