Former Ubisoft executives convicted in France
Former editorial vice president Thomas Francois was convicted on additional charges of attempted sexual assault and received a suspended three-year term. Francois was alleged to have perpetrated a bevy of sexual assaults at the workplace and held a pattern of egregious sexual harassment.
Various other executives, including former chief creative officer Serge Hascoet and former games director Guillaume Patrux, were sentenced to shorter suspended sentences. They also faced fines of up to $35,000. These convictions come years after anonymous reports of a toxic work culture at Ubisoft began spreading online , and the company launched an internal investigation .
Maude Beckers, an attorney for the plaintiffs, celebrated the convictions as a victory against workplace harassment, saying, "This is a very good decision today and for the future." She added, "For all companies, it means that when there is toxic management, managers must be held accountable and employers can no longer let it slide."
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The Verge
16 hours ago
- The Verge
Three former Ubisoft executives are convicted of sexual and psychological harassment
A court in France has sentenced three former Ubisoft executives for sexual and psychological harassment. Serge Hascoet, Tommy Francois, and Guillaume Patrux each received fines and suspended prison sentences for their actions that were discovered as a part of a years-long investigation into sexual harassment and bullying at the game publisher. According to The Guardian, Hascoet, Ubisoft's former chief creative officer, allegedly commented that a female employee's mood could be improved if someone were to have sex with her in order to, 'show how to calm her.' Francois, Ubisoft's former editorial vice president, was additionally convicted of attempted sexual assault as well as sexual harassment related to an alleged incident where he tried to forcefully kiss a female employee at a party while colleagues held her down. Patrux, a former game director, was alleged to have thrown furniture in open-plan office space, throwing other objects at employees, and drawing swastikas on a colleague's notebook. Investigations into Ubisoft began in 2020 as a part of the #metoo movement in video games. Current and former employees took to social media in June 2020 to describe harmful incidents and attitudes at the Far Cry and Assassin's Creed developer that spanned decades. An internal survey conducted at that time reported that out of 14,000 employees surveyed, 25 percent had seen or experienced workplace misconduct, while 20 percent said they did not feel safe or respected at the company. In the aftermath, several Ubisoft executives, including Hascoet, resigned while others, including Francois, were fired. In 2023, five former employees, including Hascoet and Francois, were arrested by French police following an investigation into the company. According to French newspaper Le Monde, Francois blamed company culture at Ubisoft for his behavior, saying he was a part of a culture that was 'everywhere, in every department' and that he didn't think it was 'abnormal.' The Verge has reached out to Ubisoft for comment.
Engadget
16 hours ago
- Engadget
Former Ubisoft executives convicted in France
French video game giant Ubisoft has been embroiled in a multiyear saga regarding a toxic company culture , multiple sexual harassment investigations and harassment suits filed by former employees. In 2023, five former Ubisoft executives were arrested on various charges related to these investigations. On Wednesday, a French court sentenced three of them to suspended sentences for enabling a culture rife with sexual and psychological harassment. Former editorial vice president Thomas Francois was convicted on additional charges of attempted sexual assault and received a suspended three-year term. Francois was alleged to have perpetrated a bevy of sexual assaults at the workplace and held a pattern of egregious sexual harassment. Various other executives, including former chief creative officer Serge Hascoet and former games director Guillaume Patrux, were sentenced to shorter suspended sentences. They also faced fines of up to $35,000. These convictions come years after anonymous reports of a toxic work culture at Ubisoft began spreading online , and the company launched an internal investigation . Maude Beckers, an attorney for the plaintiffs, celebrated the convictions as a victory against workplace harassment, saying, "This is a very good decision today and for the future." She added, "For all companies, it means that when there is toxic management, managers must be held accountable and employers can no longer let it slide."
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
French fishing trawler came ‘face to face' with Russian sub
A French fishing trawler came face to face with a Russian attack submarine when it surfaced in the English Channel off the coast of Brittany. The crew of the 25 metre Belenos trawler were shocked to see the Kilo-class vessel break the surface of the water just metres away from their boat as they were fishing near the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. One image, taken by a crew member, appears to show a figure emerging from the front of the conning tower, the raised structure that acts as the command centre. Reports of the Russian craft's presence came as a French admiral on Wednesday revealed that a shadow fleet of 'around 900' ghost ships run by Russia, North Korea and Iran, ply the waves, with 'a dozen' passing through the Channel every day. According to data from MarineTraffic, a ship tracking tool, the Belenos left Roscoff in Brittany at about 9am on Saturday. It then fished north of Roscoff, approaching the west coast of the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey when the encounter took place. Ouest-France, the regional paper that broke the story, cited the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture, based in Brest, as playing down the incident. It said: 'It's a submarine that had been tracked for some time; it was simply in transit.' However, the paper said it was 'very unusual for such a vessel to surface so close to a fishing boat'. The prefecture said: 'A French frigate accompanied it as it headed south to enter the Mediterranean or sail along the African coast, as Russian units from the Northern Fleet [based in Severomorsk] or the Baltic Fleet [in Kaliningrad] regularly do. 'In general, Russian submarines do not hide because they know [we] are aware of their presence.' 'Only France dispatched a ship, but the information 'was passed on to allies', as required by protocol.' The name of the submarine has not been disclosed but it appears to be a conventional diesel-electric attack submarine, such as those of the Kilo-class, which are produced in large numbers by Russia. Breton fishermen are wary of clashing with submarines since the sinking of the Bugaled Breizh trawler on Jan 15 2004, which caused the death of all five crew members. For years, the cause of the sinking was thought to be a collision with a Western submarine, but an inquest in 2021 found that the vessel was likely to have sunk because of a snagging of its equipment on the seabed, which forced it to stop and take on water. The trawler sank in the waters off Lizard Point, not far from the area where the Belenos was operating on June 28. The incident came as a French admiral told MPs that a ghost fleet of boats used to transport petrol in circumvention of sanctions may number 'around 900 ships'. Admiral Benoit de Guibert, the maritime prefect for the Channel and the North Sea, said: 'The state's action is primarily to keep a particularly close watch on this fleet, which is estimated to consist of around 900 ships, including a dozen that are tracked daily in the English Channel.' The clandestine fleet 'does not only concern Russian interests, but also those of other countries such as Iran and North Korea', he told MPs. His assessment came after it emerged that a Russian warship disguised itself using a fake ID signal while travelling through the English Channel with two sanctioned oil tankers. The Boikiy – a corvette armed with guided missiles – broadcast the fake ID code as it passed through the Channel earlier this month, according to the BBC. It travelled alongside two vessels known to be part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' – a network of tankers whose ownership can be obscured and are used to transport sanctioned oil products. It is thought that recent Western moves against the shadow fleet may have prompted Moscow to use its military to protect the tankers. Last month, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet flew past a shadow fleet vessel and entered Estonian airspace after the country attempted to intercept the ship, which was suspected of carrying sanctioned oil. Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist at the Centre for Naval Analyses, told the BBC: 'The action seems designed to deter the UK and other Nato states from attempting to board and, or, seize these vessels, since the presence of a military escort heightens the risk of confrontation and further escalation.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
