A U.S. judge has dismissed a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against PlayStation, stating the original suit does not have enough detail to back up the plaintiff’s claims.
As reported by Axios (via Kotaku), U.S. magistrate judge Laurel Beeler dismissed the lawsuit filed by former PlayStation employee Emma Majo. Majo alleged that Sony Interactive Entertainment didn’t equally compensate female staff compared to their male counterparts, and claimed she was falsely terminated after filing a gender bias complaint to Sony in 2021.
Sony requested the lawsuit be dismissed “on the ground that the plaintiff alleges only unactionable run-of-the-mill personnel activity and thus does not plausibly plead claims” – a request that Beeler has granted.
“The court grants the motion to dismiss (with leave to amend) for most claims because the allegations are mostly conclusory,” reads a court document.
This means that the court felt that Majo did not explain her claims or provide enough evidence to back them up, however “leave to amend” means that Majo is free to address these issues and re-submit her lawsuit.
The court also noted that three of Majo’s 13 claims had merit, and “may yield new allegations”. Majo will need to re-submit an amended lawsuit within 28 days, and the ruling suggests involving the testimonies of eight women who have since alleged sexual harassment and discrimination issues within Sony (via Polygon).
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Today (April 22) has been a busy day for companies involved in allegations of workplace misconduct. An investor lawsuit against Activision Blizzard has been dropped over a lack of evidence, while Nintendo has denied trying to interfere with employees’ right to unionise after an employee lodged a complaint with the United States National Labour Relations Board.
In other news, Facebook has denied allegations that COO Sheryl Sandberg used her position in the company to bury stories regarding a temporary restraining order against Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.