Capcom Being Sued for Workplace Harassment

Developing games can be tough and nerve-rending work.  Long hours, complicated code and strict timelines have sent many fleeing from an industry they otherwise loved. Now add workplace harassment to that list and you have recipe for disaster.

A Japanese game developer from the Dragon's Dogma team is claiming that she received such horrible workplace harassment that she attempted suicide, and is now suing Capcom over the ordeal.

Kotaku has translated the details of the suit from the Japanese publication Minpokyo which claims that the unnamed developer joined the Dragon's Dogma team in 2009, only to be given horrible treatment by another female manager.  The suit alleges that the developer was openly, and harshly, criticized in meetings. Was given tasks which were impossible to complete, simply to have her inherently fail them, and also spent months working on a database to help with development only to have it pulled away and told that "even if the database is a success, [she was] worthless to the team."

She also alleges that after the database was pulled, two other manager actively sought to get her fired by spreading rumors that she was "problematic," her ideas "were worthless," and that she had been skipping meetings. This, eventually, led up to her needing to take time off of work after being diagnosed with an Anxiety disorder. During this time off she attempted suicide by ingesting large amounts of sleeping pills, antidepressants and cold medicine.

Thankfully, the woman survived the attempt and eventually returned to work only to be told by her co-workers that she hadn't recovered. She was eventually suspended and fired from the company.

As bad as all this sounds, we are just hearing one side of the story. However, workplace bullying (or Power Harassment) has become an increasing problem in Japan, leading the  Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to officially define the term late last year. Provided by The Escapist, Power Harassment is defined as: "asking junior employees to perform impossible tasks, committing acts of violence and other physical offenses, causing emotional stress, isolating or ignoring individuals, asking personal questions, and giving an employee nothing or very little to do."

When ask for comment Capcom declined, stating that they have a company policy not to discuss ongoing litigation.