Bungie's Head Of HR Breaks Her Silence On Harassment Reports
Bungie's head of HR has stepped down from her position after more than 14 years in the role, following a massive report about issues of harassment and discrimination within the company. A report from IGN detailed a Bungie that routinely dealt with issues of harassment and discrimination targeted towards women and people of color. The report specifically highlighted issues with the narrative team, citing management that would belittle people's ideas before taking them for themselves and forcing large amounts of crunch. Management and team leads would also throw objects and yell during meetings.
The article –which saw IGN speak to over two dozen Bungie employees — indicated that the HR department to ever act upon reports given to them, instead covering up and protecting toxic individuals. The report did not name specific members of the HR department. Now, in a letter sent to all of Bungie and obtained by IGN, Bungie head of HR Gayle d'Hondt announced her resignation from her role, although it is unclear if she is leaving the company entirely. d'Hondt wrote that she understood for Bungie to continue moving forward from these toxic incidents that someone new would need to be in her place, someone who could be viewed as an "advocate" with no ill will towards the staff. Here's how d'Hondt's departure could change things at Bungie.
Bungie attempting to improve its work culture
d'Hondt shared her own stories of dealing with the toxic work environment at Bungie, including instances where she had to let go employees for "performance, bad behavior, and for discrimination, racism, and sexual harassment." She also mentioned having to report her own abuser, "a man, an executive, and someone I thought was my friend at Bungie — which resulted in Bungie firing him."
She ended the letter stating she was proud of the work she did at Bungie and believes that the developer has the potential to become better. As mentioned in the original report, the employees that spoke to IGN cited issues dating back to 2011, around the time the team began working on the original "Destiny." Closer to 2019, Bungie began to actually deal with its issues. Toxic abusers were let go, working conditions were improved, and reports that used to be ignored were being listened to. For the individuals who left the company, this was all too little too late, but it can be seen as a sign that Bungie wants to prevent these things from happening in the future.
All of these reports have come during Bungie's 30th-anniversary event, where it released a real-life version of "Destiny's" most powerful weapon. It also comes a few months before the release of the next "Destiny 2" expansion, "The Witch Queen."