Bungie won a lawsuit against a Destiny 2 player who was harassing one of its employees. The Sony-owned developer sued the offender, Jesse James Comer, and got awarded almost half a million dollars in damages by the court. It is truly refreshing to see a company standing behind an employee in this way and it should set a precedent for all companies whose employees fall victim to similar situations.
The lawsuit between Bungie and the malefactor took place in the state of Washington. The final judgment for the case was issued by default because Comer was not present while the ruling was passed. Comer was charged with cyberstalking, telephone harassment, invasion of privacy, and more. Consequently, the lawsuit concluded with the defendant being sentenced to pay a fine of $490,000 to the plaintiff, Bungie. He was also permanently prohibited from contacting anyone who works for the Destiny 2 developer.
The Reason for the Bungie Employee Lawsuit
The Bungie lawsuit situation started when the defendant, Comer, launched a harassment campaign against not only the Destiny 2 community manager but his family as well. The supposed reason for the targeted harassment was that the community manager, whose name cannot be disclosed due to privacy concerns, merely promoted fan art made by a person of color. Comer believed this was reason enough to threaten the entire household of the Bungie employee.
Comer did so under the guise of “Clay Bramston” by leaving heinous voicemails on the personal phones of the Bungie employee and his family members. He made unreasonable requests like having in-game options to commit racist acts. But he went too far when he sent an unpleasant and inedible pizza to their home, showing he knew where they lived, and proceeded to call them saying “Enjoy the pizza.”
At this point, the Destiny 2 community manager felt that he and his family were in mortal danger, which is why Bungie contacted the local authorities and asked them to send protection to his house. The studio also demanded that the perpetrator’s identity be found, and a restraining order be placed. This resulted in Bungie’s lawsuit and the defendant’s sentencing.
In other Destiny 2 news, the Season of the Deep brought new Kinetic weapons, and here is a list of the 10 best ones. If you want to know what Kinetic weapons are, check out our guide here.