A tentative settlement has been reached in a wrongful termination/retaliation lawsuit filed by two former members of Lab Zero’s board of directors, who alleged the lead designer of the studio behind the “Skullgirls” and “Indivisible” games wrongfully fired the pair of plaintiffs in 2020.
Court papers filed Wednesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brock Hammond by attorneys for the ex-board members indicated that a “conditional” resolution had been reached in the long-running dueling litigation and that a request for dismissal will be filed by May 25.
No terms were divulged.
Lab Zero had countersued the women for intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic relations, defamation and unfair business practices or acts in violation of the Business and Professions Code.
Mariel Cartwright, who had a background as a game animator, and Francesca Esquenazi, a longtime producer, were fired from the board of directors in August 2020, their suit brought in April 2021 stated. The two women alleged that head designer Mike Zaimont punished them for standing up to his alleged sexual harassment of employees. They also contended that Zaimont made an insensitive comment after George Floyd’s death that “sparked an internet outcry” and embarrassed other Lab Zero workers.
Throughout their Lab Zero employment, Zaimont subjected plaintiffs to a “pervasive campaign of sexual harassment,” including frequent unwanted touching, discussion about the size of his private parts, his sex life and his libido, the suit stated.
Zaimont also made unwelcome comments about the bodies and dress of the two women, according to the suit, which further stated that while Zaimont admitted his conduct was inappropriate, he complained that “now I have to seriously consider whether the company needs to undergo sexual harassment seminars and have a dress code and an office code of conduct, and that sucks, I don’t want to become one of those places.”
Zaimont said in jest that he was Lab Zero’s human resources department and that he could fire employees who challenged him, the suit stated.
A month after the May 25, 2020, death of Floyd in Minneapolis — when a police officer who was later convicted of murder knelt on Floyd’s neck until he died — Zaimont participated in a live-streamed gaming event as a representative of Lab Zero. While commenting on the match while a player was “killing” another in a game, Zaimont jokingly said, “I can’t breathe,” according to the suit.
The comment “sparked an internet outcry” and “deeply embarrassed many on Lab Zero’s team, who viewed them, as did much of the internet, as making light of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement,” according to the suit.
Although Zaimont apologized, the incident caused employees of Lab Zero and others in the gaming community to break their silence about harassment they allegedly experienced at his hands, both publicly and privately, the suit stated.
In the countersuit, Lab Zero alleged that throughout their employment, Cartwright and Esquenazi facilitated conversations with Zaimont about sex and related topics and later publicly mischaracterized those conversations as harassment.
The countersuit also alleged that the two women began a competing business and discussed recruiting Lab Zero employees.
“After falsely accusing Zaimont of harassment and making public statements against him, (Cartwright and Esquenazi) destroyed Lab Zero’s and Zaimont’s public images, causing Lab Zero to break up and perish,” the countersuit stated.