English translation about Ubisoft’s sexual harassment’s scandal.
Original article: https://www.numerama.com/politique/635049-harcelement-sexiste-et-sexuel-a-ubisoft-il-a-tente-de-membrasser-tout-le-monde-rigolait.html
I only translated the bits that weren’t already covered by Libération’s article, that I fully translated here because it’s wearing on me and my mental health. Remember that I do it for free to spread the truth, in a hope for my favourite gaming company to change for the best.
Serge Hascoët is Yves Guillemot’s right-hand man with “an absolute and unwavering power.” He’s said to be a bit insane, but a “funny” insane. He’s no stranger to the sexism inside the company: he once said an employee was “badly fucked” (French idiom to say someone’s not sexually satisfied so they’re frustrated with everything). Following this, he offered a lesson to fix this kind of things for anyone who’d need it to “show them how [fucking] is done”. He was also seen asking another female employee what ocytocin was (the hormone secreted by an orgasm) because she “apparently didn’t know”.
He has been
so used to get his wishes fulfilled in the second that he abused his position
for years, to the point that even Yves Guillemot had a word with him about his
expense account (he used the company to cover personal travels costs or showed very
expensive restaurant notes for only two people…)
In the end, he was allowed to have a “black card” and approve his own
expense accounts without further check.
He used his assistants as servants to book hotels, get alcohol and food for
parties in his flat in Neuilly, or to drive his Porsche… Until they finally
created a janitor position just for him, so his assistant would finally do
actual administrative work instead of fancy, not work-related business.
“We
had to carry out with every decision Serge made, without asking questions”,
say Anne, who worked in HR. “We were a small team of trainees and people
with short contracts, inexperienced, completely unprepared for all the
situation we went through. We played our parts in this, but we have also been
the victims of this omerta, this mafia.”
“Serge is a God who has the right of life and death on projects and
careers”, says Paul. People who wanted to directly oppose him would be
“pushed to the exit”
He’s the man who has the power of life and death over any game project at Ubisoft, but also on people’s carrier in the company. He protected his friends and hired whoever he wanted to, the HR had nothing to say about recruitment.
Hascoët had a team around him protecting him all the time, including his assistant, Matthéo B. who’s also involved in several testimonies about sexism and misconduct. He’s the one who prevented his assistant to use the elevator because she was “too fat” and threatened her with a little knife. He was promoted to Hascoet’s assistant and then abused his power. To a couple (man and woman) who came to him to ask for an appointment with Mr Hascoët to discuss a project, M.B. asked if he could “fuck the woman” in exchange for the appointment. Everyone was livid, the woman was very embarrassed and Matthéo finally said it was all a joke.
He was also seen coming in and out, sometimes missing work for days, sometimes coming back presumably under the influence of drugs. He admitted being “high” on drugs several times at work, and getting out of the building on work hours to see his dealer.
“Everybody knew”. He also apparently dealt drug on his work place. “People came to his desk pretending to ask for an appointment, they took an envelope and let another envelope on the desk…”
He was gradually put aside and then asked to leave in 2018.
[The article then focuses about Tommy François, but the content is the same as the Libération’s article, HR burying complaints, François’s inappropriate behavior, force kissing female employees, saying people’s cloths are “a call to rape”, harassing and other things…]
People in the company say Ubisoft should not only fire Tommy François but change their whole “Edito” department, but witnesses say Mr Guillemot would rather chop his own arm off rather than firing Serge Hascoët.
Yet, Yves Guillemot announced in an official letter that he would “change the composition” of this department, without further detail.
As usual, you can support me on Ko-fi !