Naughty Dog Responds to Former Staff Allegations of Sexual Harassment

Naughty Dog, the Sony-owned developer known for The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises, was accused of sexual harassment by a former staff member this past weekend.

David Ballard, a designer that worked for the studio as far back as 2009, alleged that he was sexually harassed in late 2015 by a lead staff member within the studio.


He claims that he was later terminated in February of 2016 after notifying the studio and its parent company, Sony Interactive Entertainment, of the incident. Ballard also claims he was offered $20,000 in severance pay for his silence regarding the issue, to which Ballard says he refused.

Naughty Dog published a statement on their site that notes: “we have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment.”

“We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously,” Naughty Dog said in its statement. “We value every single person who works at Naughty Dog and Sony interactive Entertainment.”

Ballard’s LinkedIn profile credits him as an environmental artist for Naughty Dog from 2009 to 2014. He returned to the studio after nine months at Ubisoft, only to work at Naughty Dog as a multiplayer level designer. He is credited for working on Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us.

Ballard came out this past weekend in the wake of an onslaught of sexual harassment claims toward Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. He also noted that since his termination, he’s been unemployed for the past 17 months.

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