Ubisoft Fires Top Exec Over Sexual Harassment Allegations

French video game developer Ubisoft has fired Tommy Francois after his name was caught in a web of sexual harassment allegations hurled against him by former and current employees.

Sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Francois had been released by Ubisoft following an “internal investigation” on the alleged misdemeanor. The former Ubisoft Paris editorial and creative services vice president was placed on disciplinary leave in late June when another top executive, Maxime Beland, stepped down from his post as Ubisoft Toronto creative director and editorial vice president over the same allegations.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed Beland's resignation while at the same time put another Ubisoft Toronto employee on the hot seat after displaying “behaviors that do not align what is expected of Ubisoft employees.”

Guillemont informed Ubisoft's editorial staff about Francois' case in a July 31 email, while a “Ubisoft source” said he left the company without a financial settlement and will be able to keep “any shares he has with the company.”

Francois' name was included in a series of misconduct allegations by employees at Ubisoft. Business Insider reported in a separate article that the executive told “male and female colleagues” during a business trip to Montreal in 2016 that he spent the entire night masturbating and even showed his coworkers what he claimed to be a video that he watched during the night.

Five former and current Ubisoft staff who worked in the same office as Francois also claimed that he “regularly judged” his female colleagues' looks out loud, gave people massages without their permission and touched the private parts of male staff while riding an elevator.

Beland's case on the other hand falls in line with Francois' and broke news after Kotaku wrote a detailed report on the allegations. The outlet talked to 12 former and current employees of Ubisoft Toronto and all of them described the workplace to be toxic. Beland also “undervalues women's contributions, normalizes sexism and harassment and makes excuses for the worst offenders while complaints against them go unheeded.”

Chief Creative Officer Serge Hasceot, Human Relations chief Cecile Cornet and Ubisoft Canada managing director Yannis Mallat followed the footsteps for Francois and Beland as some of the company's top executives who have resigned after a “rigorous review,” said The Verge.