The Destiny 2 player is will have to pay nearly $490,000 in damages to the game developer.
Destiny 2 developer, Bungie has won a lawsuit against a player who relentlessly harassed a staff member. His actions included unsolicited messages and voicemails, racist comments and more. The Superior Court for the State of Washington and King County ordered Destiny 2 player Jesse James Comer to pay $489,435 in damages to Bungie.
Ruling that Comer’s behavior constituted a nuisance as well as endangered the health and safety of the Bungie employee. As part of its judgment, the court also ruled that Jesse Comer will not directly or indirectly seek to harass or intimidate any Destiny 2 community member including but not limited to players, streamers, artists or any content creator. He is also liable to pay Bungie $489,435 in damages which include legal fees. You can read the entire judgment here.
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Significant victory against Online Harassment
This decision marks a crucial victory in the fight against online harassment. The game developer initiated the lawsuit after the Destiny 2 player persisted in his harassment of the Bungie staff. His activities included sending voicemails, racist comments, and requesting racist features in-game.
He even took things a step further by ordering pizza using the community manager’s phone number. His intention was to incite altercations between the staff member and the delivery person. The incidents left the community manager frightened forcing them to curtail their interactions with the community. They essentially had to take a step back from their job requirements.
There were a few important inclusions in the judgement including allowing companies the ability to protect employees working from home. Further, the court also mentioned it would recognize a new tort.
This ruling essentially paves the way for game developers to potentially pursue legal action against online harassment in their games. Toxicity and online harassment in video games has seen a steep rise in the past few years. This ruling is a welcome step and a potential deterrent against such actions.
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