A former employee of Valve is suing the publisher/developer for $3.1 million in a lawsuit originally obtained by Polygon. The suit alleges that her supervisor at Valve referred to her as “it” following her sex reassignment surgery, creating a hostile work environment for her at the company.
The suit was filed on April 12, 2016 and Valve has denied all wrongdoing in response.
The suit states that the former translator who is identified only by her initials, was fired after she complained to HR of the companies practices of “utilising people who were interested in their products to provide translation services for free.”
According to the filing the plaintiff worked for Valve in their headquarters which is located in Washington state prior to 2012. Sometime during that year she moved to Los Angeles to undergo her surgery where she could work while recovering. Valve accommodated her request and allowed her to work from LA during this period. However Valve required her to be reclassified as a independent contractor as a condition of the move.
She continued to work for the company until early 2016 when she filed the complaint to HR about unpaid translators whom she felt were being exploited and lured into work for free based on false promises made by her supervisor according to the filing.
The suit states that the employee was fired within 15 days of filing this written complaint. Valve has stated that at the time her job was being relocated back to Washington but when she offered to move Valve declined to keep her on. The plaintiff believes she was fired because of both her complaint and her supervisor being uncomfortable with her being a transgender woman. Alleged in the suit, he would refer to her as “it”.
More information of the suit and a breakdown of the damaged can be found on the original report.
On May 20 Valve has denied every allegation made and has asked for the suit be dismissed.
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Morgan Archer
Having arguments in 140 characters or less since 2010
