Justin Roiland’s Squanch Games previously accused of sexual harassment in 2018
A sexual harassment lawsuit against the 'High on Life' Studio, Squanch Games, is said to have been settled in the previous years.
Only a few days have passed since the news about Justin Roiland being accused of felony domestic violence and false imprisonment. Now, there’s news coming in about a sexual harassment case filed by a former employee at Squanch Games.
The former employee, Sarah Doukakos was harassed by a supervisor, then-technical director Jeff Dixon. She sued Squanch Games over sexual harassment in 2018, as reported by Kotaku.
Squanch Games initially refused the claims
The company initially refused to all the allegations, but later agreed to a settlement in 2019.
Dixon, according to the lawsuit, would question Doukako's intelligence and competence in addition to forcing unwanted hugs on her. He also once told her that a t-shirt she was wearing with the words "The Future is Female" made him sad.
The complaint was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2018 on behalf of Sarah Doukakos, the designer of Squanch Games. She claimed that Jeff Dixon sexually harassed and belittled her. She also claimed that despite multiple complaints to managers, Dixon's behaviour was not addressed, not even by the co-founder and then chief executive officer, Tanya Watson.
A spokesperson for the company said in an email to Kotaku, “Squanch Games is committed to creating an inclusive and supportive work environment for our team. He further added, “We don’t publicly disclose personnel matters, and we stand by the decision we made in 2017, not to reveal the confidential information as it relates to this case”.
Watson: “That’s just how this generation of guys are”
Sarah Doukokas told Watson on August 11, 2017, about the unwanted touching and how Dixon treated her differently because she was a female. In response, Watson said, “that’s just how this generation of guys are”. Not only that, Watson also told Doukokas to sit quietly, take notes, and smile whenever the men spoke. Another manager, Anthony Bosco, told Watson of the issues, but she simply "sighed" in response.
Doukokas was fired on November 1 over performance issues but the lawsuit claims it was in retaliation for her complaints. Squanch Games’ court filings deny all the claims against it, the two sides eventually settled in September 2019, but the terms of the settlements are still unclear.
Dixon left Squanch Games shortly after the termination of Doukakos. Tanya Watson also departed from the studio in February 2021.
There is no mention of Justin Roiland in the lawsuit but he has been CEO of the company ever since co-founding it with Tanya Watson in 2016.
Squanch Games, founded by Justin Roiland, is best known for the recently released 'High on Life' Game, the biggest game pass launch of 2022.