Microsoft Pays Xbox Staffer To Shhh About Homophobia Claims

jamiedurrant

Already notorious for its homophobic gaming policies, Microsoft’s Xbox also stood accused of letting gay discrimination run rampant in its own offices. Jamie Durrant sued the company for about $70,000 after co-workers branded him as “Fag Boy Jim” and messages reading “I’m Jim and I’m Gay’ were circulated — and HR refused to do anything. Now, the two parties have reached a settlement.

Too bad we’ll never know the terms, thanks to the confidentiality agreement Durrant had to sign in order to see a payday after coming to terms with Microsoft at an employment tribunal.

But let’s let Microsoft talk out of its ass. According to a spokesman: “We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution to this matter with Mr. Durrant. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we can confirm that Mr. Durrant will not continue his employment at Lionhead as part of the agreement. Microsoft has a longstanding commitment to diversity. We attract, recruit and respect diverse talent and we have included sexual orientation in our anti-discrimination policies for 20 years. Our efforts have been recognised by a wide range of groups, including the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in its 2009 Corporate Equality Index. We do not tolerate breaches of our code of business conduct and take any complaints extremely seriously. Throughout this process, those to whom Mr. Durrant brought his concerns have taken them seriously and concrete actions have been taken to address them. Neither Mr. Durrant’s sexual orientation nor the nature of his complaint had any bearing on the way it was handled.”

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