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VR Company Upload Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Upload, formerly UploadVR, the virtual reality startup at the center of a sexual harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit filed earlier this year, has settled the case with its former employee and is aiming to put the ensuing damage behind it. The lawsuit, filed against the startup and its co-founders by former director of digital and social media Elizabeth Scott, alleged that the company had sought to create a "boy's club" environment and described "rampant" sexual behavior in the office, allegations that co-founders Will Mason and Taylor Freeman denied as "entirely without merit." The lawsuit is now over, according to people familiar with the matter, and though the terms of the agreement were undisclosed, some in the virtual reality community feel that the company has dodged a bullet in reaching some conclusion over the litigation.
"The matter has been concluded," was Upload's official statement. Neither Scott, nor her legal counsel, responded to a request for comment for this story. Upload has also released the following statement around the conclusion of the legal case. "Our primary focus at Upload is education, which we believe is the key to growing the mixed reality ecosystem. We are deeply committed to creating an inclusive community to empower the pioneers building the future."
"The matter has been concluded," was Upload's official statement. Neither Scott, nor her legal counsel, responded to a request for comment for this story. Upload has also released the following statement around the conclusion of the legal case. "Our primary focus at Upload is education, which we believe is the key to growing the mixed reality ecosystem. We are deeply committed to creating an inclusive community to empower the pioneers building the future."
Most lawsuit settlements of this size can allow you to live out your life assuming you can invest carefully.
Meaning there is some pretty serious incentive to file a lawsuit and squeeze out a settlement because as you said, no company's legal team is crazy enough to go to trial on this issue.
This just means in the fabricated case the employer gets fucked and in the genuine case everybody wins and nobody loses, the perpetrators of this behaviour should lose and there's no reason that just because something bad happened to you you are entitled to profit from it.
Of course companies are going to be skeptical about hiring somebody who filed a lawsuit with a massive financial incentive to do so and then took it and shut up while the perpetrators just carry on. As an employer would you not be wary of such a scenario? Forget taking money and instead stand up for principle and take it to trial to make sure the perpetrators of this behaviour are brought to justice...but the culture is just money money money and so long as you get a payout nothing else matters.