Former Marathon reboot director sues Sony and Bungie for $200m claiming wrongful dismissal

Former Destiny 2 and Marathon reboot director Christopher Barrett is suing Bungie and Sony for $200m USD, claiming the companies "deliberately destroyed [his] reputation by falsely, and publicly, insinuating...he had engaged in sexual misconduct."

Word of Barrett's departure from Bungie arrived earlier this year, amid claims of a leadership shakeup. However, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier later reported - after speaking directly with some of those involved - that Barrett was fired from the studio following an internal investigation into accusation of inappropriate behaviour filed by "at least eight" female employees.

At the time of Bloomberg's report, Barrett responded, "I never understood my communications to be unwanted and I would have never thought they could possibly have made anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am truly sorry."

Three months on, however, and Barrett is in a far more combative mood. He's now filed a complaint with a Delaware court accusing Sony and Bungie of "deliberately [destroying his] reputation by falsely, and publicly, insinuating they had 'investigated' [him] and 'found' he had engaged in sexual misconduct." The filing continues, "[They] did not care that none of it was true. They had blatant motivations for their brazen scheme: (i) to avoid paying Barrett the nearly $50m he is owed under his employment agreement, and (ii) to shift blame for and deflect attention away from their massive business failures."

Barrett goes onto allege the internal investigation into his behaviour was a "premeditated scheme" and a "sham". To support these claims, the lawsuit argues Barrett was told about the investigation "out of the blue"; was "not advised to bring counsel to the interview"; was "asked questions about communications with his colleagues but was never shown" these communications; was "never asked whether he had ever engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct, whether he ever sent inappropriate sexual or pornographic materials to a co-worker, or whether he ever retaliated against a co-worker for rebuffing his advances or discriminated against a female colleague on the basis of her sex", and was instead "asked questions about run-of-the-mill communications."

Barrett then alleges that three weeks after the investigation, Sony and Bungie revealed he was to be terminated for "gross misconduct" but "refused to explain further", and that he was told "nothing he could say would make a difference, despite never giving him a chance to engage with the allegations in the first place." It's also claimed, "No one ever told Barrett who had made the decision to fire him or even what conduct he was being fired for."

Next comes the allegation that Bungie and Sony "wrongfully retained nearly $50m owed to Barrett for his stock in Bungie" following his termination, and that the defendants then "completed the Machiavellian trifecta by providing wildly misleading statements to Bloomberg designed to: (i) deflect blame for Sony's poorly performing $3.6b acquisition of Bungie and delays in video game production by casting shade on Barrett for his role on Marathon and (ii) shift blame for their own public #MeToo problems by falsely insinuating that the accusations of severe misconduct had been directed at Barrett, when they had not."

The lawsuit insists, "Barrett did not do anything remotely resembling gross misconduct or 'Cause' as defined in the Retention Agreements... and there could not have been any credible allegation he did because Barrett had a spotless twenty-five year track record at Bungie."

Barrett argues Sony and Bungie's actions "irreparably harmed [him] financially, physically, and emotionally" and that the goal of his lawsuit is to "recover tens of millions of dollars he is owed for stock he earned through twenty-five years of hard work, to recover for the retaliation he has suffered, to restore his hard-earned reputation, and to be compensated for the falsehoods knowingly and maliciously spread about him by the Defendants."

Barrett is seeking $200m in damages, including $45,579,627 (plus interest) owed under his employment terms, another $45,579,627 (plus interest) for violating Washington's Wage Rebate Act, and "not less than $100m" in defamation and punitive damages. He is also requesting to be reinstated as franchise game director on Marathon.

Eurogamer has contacted Sony and Bungie for comment.