08 July 2021
Ubisoft has listed the “occurence of inappropriate behavior by employees” as a new risk to the company in a little-noticed annual filing last month.
Why it matters: Over the past year, Ubisoft has reacted to widespread allegations of misconduct against powerful men in the company with a mix of confidence that reform is possible and contrition from its CEO. But the filing shows a Ubisoft more explicit about the lingering fallout.
- The risk assessments appear as part of the company's 348-page universal registration document, which is stuffed with the company's description of its business and performance in the past year.
- In the same report, it upgraded the risk of failing to "attract and retain talent" from "moderate" the year prior to "high."
Between the lines: Ubisoft says in the filing that it has taken allegations against employees "seriously, making every effort to remedy it," but notes that “it cannot provide an absolute guarantee that this type of risk will be controlled.”
- It acknowledges that the problem can cost the company talent, damage its reputation and "could lead to a decrease in activity in our games, and in revenue."
- Its listed approaches to mitigating that include "mandatory training on harassment and sexism," the signing of a code of conduct, improvement of the company's whistleblowing platform, and tying portions of management pay to improving company culture.
- Despite Ubisoft's actions, some employees and fans say the company has not improved enough and given some accused workers a pass.
Several top Ubisoft officials werefired or quit last after they were accused of misconduct.
- Ubisoft said the impact was significant: "Some positions could not be filled immediately, resulting in delays in decision-making, postponement of expenses or the teams concerned losing their bearings."
- To help address this, Ubisoft is creating lines of succession for senior roles, including creative directors and producers.
Much of Ubisoft's new document is a copy-and-paste job from the past year's, so additions and subtractions are conspicuous.
- Ubisoft removed language from the prior year's document about how its "unique employer culture helps ensure that the teams in place remain loyal."
- In its place, Ubisoft notes it hired a VP of global diversity and inclusion and a chief people officer to improve HR and enhance its ability to "develop and retain talented people."
- While 2020's document boasted that the company's board benefits from the "long-term presence of the founders" — a reference to the CEO and his four brothers on the board — the 2021 document notes that the board is "mostly independent" and 40% female.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.