Sony fights back against wrongful termination lawsuit from ex-Bungie dev

Sony is fighting back against the wrongful termination lawsuit from former Bungie developer Christopher Barrett, whose 25-year run at the studio ended last year.

Barrett alleges his dismissal came after a “sham” investigation, and he was axed over alleged misconduct, but Sony has responded fiercely with a 128-page filing—with Sony moving to dismiss six of the seven counts in Barrett’s suit.

The documents submitted by Sony include text communications between Barrett and female Bungie employees that it claims “reveal his pattern of misconduct” and alleges he “attempted to create an unprofessional level of intimacy with his victims.”

Another communication shared by Sony alleges Barrett referred to another female as the “Holy Grail.” However, he said he wasn’t “hitting on” the woman in the messages, as he is married, before saying the woman is “the .000001 and better be treated like that forever.”

Sony’s filing includes excerpts of nine written communications, including texts and direct messages, though Barrett’s lawyers issued a statement to Game File accusing Sony of “disingenuously cherry-picking [ing] text messages and alleged conversations.”

The response also claims “nothing in Sony’s response provides a legitimate legal or factual basis to terminate Christopher for cause” and that they are “confident” the legal proceedings will show that “Sony engaged in a scheme to strip him of his role and equity rewards.”

Barrett’s initial lawsuit, filed in December, claims Sony axed him to spare a payout that Game File claims was worth around $84 million in bonuses that was “charged up” when Sony purchased Bungie for $3.7 billion. It also indicates he’d witnessed misconduct elsewhere in the studio during his long tenure.

The claims include an alleged email channel that “shared lewd and semi-pornographic content to the entire studio” which, on occasion, were “shared on a projector at studio events.” Sony denies those claims in the new filing, stating, “defendants lack knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations.”