Nintendo of America testers allege sexual harassment in new report

Nintendo of America has been described as having a discriminatory workplace environment for female contractors in a new report.

Company culture: The allegations place plenty of emphasis on a power imbalance between temporary and full-time staff.

• Kotaku spoke to 10 former Nintendo female workers who detailed instances of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, alongside limited opportunities for career advancement.
• The report's sources allege that, over the past decade, the company has had a "corporate culture where sexist behavior was commonplace, and very little action was taken to address it."
• A prevalent theme throughout the report is Nintendo of America's use of contractors. There's allegedly a "power difference" between temporary and full-time employees which "exacerbated inappropriate behavior."

• “A lot of the NOA red badges had reputations for using the tester pool of associates as a dating pool,” one source said in the article. "If you were approached by a red badge, and they appeared to be making moves on you, [other women said that] you didn’t want to dissuade them too hard.”
• Several sources told Kotaku that Melvin Forrest, a department head who decided those that would remain at the company once a project had finished, made "inappropriate advances" toward female testers.
• One former temporary worker claimed that the external staffing company she worked for "warned her to be less outspoken" after she reported incidents of sexual harassment.
• In May, it was reported that Nintendo of America had been accused of exploiting contractors. Similar themes appeared in that report, with temporary staff being treated like "second class workers."