According to a court document authored by Sony, these are the text messages that reportedly led to the termination of a former Bungie executive.

A lawsuit between Sony and a fired Bungie director is getting messy. Sony have revealed the text messages sent by the former director, which they say are proof of his “predatory behaviour” and justify their decision to dismiss him. Christopher Barrett was removed from his position last year in a dramatic reshuffle and it was later revealed that the reasons included alleged “inappropriate” and “unwanted” messages to female staff at the studio. In response to the allegations, Barrett sued Bungie and parent company Sony for breach of contract and defamation, claiming that the investigation that led to his dismissal was a “sham”. The real reason for his firing, he says, was to stop a big bonus payout of over $45 million.

But lo, the Streisand effect has been initiated. His lawsuit has invited Sony to roll up their sleeves and dip their arms into their big gritty bag of exhibits. Examples of the texts he allegedly sent to employees have been revealed in a court filing.

The 128-page legal document is basically a line-by-line response to all the claims Barrett is making in his lawsuit against his former company. It was first reported by Stephen Totilo of Game File, who’s been following the case since the lawsuit began. In the document Sony first repeat their claims against Barrett, citing the original investigation they did into his conduct.

“The investigation revealed that Barrett’s misconduct with each employee was consistent: he targeted a lower-level, female employee he wasn’t working with directly, initially engaged in friendly conversation, and progressively pushed boundaries with the employee by making subtle references to her physical appearance or expressing his interest in her romantically. Barrett attempted to create an unprofessional level of intimacy with his victims. He requested to follow personal Instagram accounts and would express anger to the women if they failed to respond to his messages. He would bring up inappropriate topics like their body, their relationships, his marriage, or his desire to date them. He would demand that they participate in sexually charged games of “Truth or Dare” and “Ask Me Anything.” He texted them at all hours of the day and night. He offered to buy them gifts. He often referenced his wealth and his ability to advance their careers.

Sony then goes on to include specific examples of the texts Barrett allegedly sent to female employees, as well as behaviour they say he engaged in, such as calling female employees while drunk to ask who they were dating. Here’s some of what’s included in the document:

• Barrett asked VICTIM 1 to play “Truth or Dare” over text message and inquired, “what do you think is your best and worst feature physically[?]” He later told her in a text message that she was “hot”.
• Despite VICTIM 1’s explicit request in writing for Barrett to recognize “boundaries,” he called her late at night while drunk and after keeping her on a FaceTime call for hours, moved down a dark hallway to his bedroom and suggestively told her, “I can’t believe I am lying in bed talking to [VICTIM 1].” She abruptly hung up.
• Barrett sent VICTIM 2 Instagram direct messages stating, “You are the holy grail. I hope you find a person worthy of your attention” and qualified it with, “I’m not hitting on you. I hope it doesn’t feel like that. I’m married. But I can be honest. You are the .000001 and better be treated like that forever.” When VICTIM 2 responded that her boyfriend treats her very well, Barrett responded, “He better[.] Cuz i would hit on you if he wasn’t.”
• Barrett also sent VICTIM 2 an Instagram direct message asking, “You want to be worshipped, I think? Why are you against that actually happening?” And a few days later messaged VICTIM 2, “[w]hat are the steps one would have to take [to date you?] What’s the strategy guide[?]”
• Barrett similarly told VICTIM 3, “I hope [your boyfriend] doesn’t mind I text you a lot” and “I just worry. Like I really enjoy texting you and talking. I don’t want him to get the right idea.” Later in the conversation, when VICTIM 3 told Barrett she was busy, Barrett stated, “I want your attention, so annoying.”
• In another Microsoft Teams exchange, Barrett asked VICTIM 4, “Are you still in PJ s?” and “[i]s it like a button down top and bottoms? Sweat pants? Lululemons?”.
• Just three weeks into VICTIM 5’s tenure at Bungie, Barrett called her late in the evening, while drunk, and told her intimate details about his personal life and asked her about who she was dating and what her “type” was. He sent her a personal Instagram follow request to connect that night, which she did not accept.

Sony goes on to say that many of the women involved eventually reported these incidents to Human Resources, but were nonetheless afraid for their positions.

“Barrett’s predatory behavior caused victims to seek guidance from other Bungie employees on how to manage Barrett’s constant boundary-pushing given that he was a long-standing, senior member of the company,” they say.

“Some victims did tell Barrett to stop. But even in cases where he initially feigned compliance, Barrett promptly picked back up again with his disturbing behavior in his next communication.”

All this essentially means that Sony is sticking to their decision to fire Barrett for reasons of “gross misconduct and gross negligence”, which would cover them as terminating his employment “for Cause”.

This is the part that Barrett disputes. He claims that he has been “scapegoat[ed],” “falsely” accused, and “defame[d]” all because Sony don’t want to pay out a big bonus he says he is entitled to – a multi-million-dollar payout he is reportedly owed thanks to Sony’s purchase of Bungie in 2022.

“Sony continues to disingenuously cherry pick text messages and alleged conversations,” said Barrett’s legal team in a message to Totilo at Game File. “[They] make unsupported and conclusory statements to defame Christopher and justify terminating him to avoid paying him what he was owed under his employment agreements. It is telling that Sony does not include the full text messages as exhibits, or the full content of these conversations, and nothing in Sony’s response provides a legitimate legal or factual basis to terminate Christopher for cause.”

Barrett’s lawyers argue that the company did not have cause to fire him, as he did not “engage in any financial improprieties” or “have or solicit any improper sexual relationships with his colleagues.”

Sony calls this line of argument “outrageous considering the evidence”.

“Hundreds of Barrett’s own written statements and the direct testimony of his many victims will demonstrate his termination for Cause was justified and this lawsuit is meritless,” they say in the document.

It is hard to know how legal cases such as this will shake out. Totilo notes the “aggressive” tactics of both parties, and comments that many cases involving such sums of money are eventually settled.

Bungie has been in the spotlight over such issues before. In 2021 they were accused of a “toxic” studio culture in which women and others did not feel safe or valued. A senior leader at the company called one woman “an unmanageable bitch”, for example. Another senior leader allegedly made frequent racist remarks. The CEO of the company, Pete Parsons, apologised and promised changes to the studio, saying it was “clear we still have work ahead of us”.

In related news, the studio has recently sought to reassure fans that their next game, an extraction shooter reboot of Marathon, is still in production with new director Joe Ziegler having replaced Barrett. Though there hasn’t been much news about the game since its reveal, and the studio has since suffered from recent layoffs.