Former Marathon reboot director sues Sony and Bungie for $200m claiming wrongful dismissal

Former Destiny 2 and Marathon reboot director Christopher Barrett is suing Bungie and Sony for $200m USD, claiming the companies “deliberately destroyed [his] reputation by falsely, and publicly, insinuating…he had engaged in sexual misconduct.”

Word of Barrett’s departure from Bungie arrived earlier this year, amid claims of a leadership shakeup. However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier later reported – after speaking directly with some of those involved – that Barrett was fired from the studio following an internal investigation into accusation of inappropriate behaviour filed by “at least eight” female employees.

At the time of Bloomberg’s report, Barrett responded, “I never understood my communications to be unwanted and I would have never thought they could possibly have made anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am truly sorry.”

Three months on, however, and Barrett is in a far more combative mood. He’s now filed a complaint with a Delaware court accusing Sony and Bungie of “deliberately [destroying his] reputation by falsely, and publicly, insinuating they had ‘investigated’ [him] and ‘found’ he had engaged in sexual misconduct.” The filing continues, “[They] did not care that none of it was true. They had blatant motivations for their brazen scheme: (i) to avoid paying Barrett the nearly $50m he is owed under his employment agreement, and (ii) to shift blame for and deflect attention away from their massive business failures.”