Ubisoft CEO Summoned to Court Following Sexual Harassment Trial

Although the trial against the three former executives has concluded, Ubisoft has received a subpoena requiring CEO Yves Guillemot to appear before the Bobigny court on October 1, as reported by BFM TV. The summons was filed by national trade union Solidaires Informatique as well as the same four civil parties from the original case.

Following a previous investigation, the Public Prosecutor’s Office had concluded there was no need to employ criminal proceedings against Ubisoft or its leader regarding the crimes of François, Hascoët, and Patrux. However, the French legal system allows victims to summon alleged perpetrators to criminal courts, so CEO Yves Guillemot, as well as the legal entity Ubisoft and HR director Marie Deraine, will now have to answer for their roles in perpetrating the workplace abuse.

The crimes François, Hascoët, and Patrux were accused of include but are not limited to: drawing swastikas on an employee’s notebook, lighting an employee’s beard on fire, forcibly restraining and kissing a female employee, punching walls, making racist remarks to a Muslim employee, and threatening to carry out an office shooting. These instances occurred between 2012 and 2020; one staff member described the workplace environment under the trio’s influence as “a boys’ club above the law,” according to the Guardian.

Hopefully the continuation of the case will prompt Ubisoft to finally take accountability for all of the terrible things that happened under their roof. But these men should never have been allowed into positions of power, and it is sickening that this is far from the only case of discrimination in the games industry.