A Destiny 2 player who targeted one of the game’s community managers with a tirade of racist abuse must pay £373,424 in damages and fees to Bungie, per the official Washington State court order.
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According to the ruling, which was shared by paralegal Kathryn Tewson on Twitter, West Virginia resident Jesse James Comer became “incensed” when the community manager shared Destiny 2 artwork from a black content creator.
According to court documents, Comer used an anonymising texting and calling service to send a “hideous, bigoted voicemail” to the community manager’s personal phone. The player “repeatedly asked that the [employee] convince Bungie to create options in its game in which only persons of colour would be killed,” before targeting the community manager’s partner with further racism.
Tewson described the acts as “sociopathic conduct,” while court documents state Comer engaged in a “carpet bombing” of “racist text and voice messages.”
Once he worked out where the community manager and their partner lived, Comer ordered a “virtually inedible, odiferous pizza” from Domino’s, chose payment on delivery for the order and asked that the delivery driver “knock at least five times” on their door.
As the abuse escalated, Bungie undertook “expensive measures” to look out for the employee’s mental and physical safety. “Executive protection” was assigned to the community manager’s house, local police were aware of the risk, and private investigators were deployed to confirm the identity of the employee’s harasser.
After working with MANY outstanding professionals to identify the culprit, a racist shitstain of a human being named Jesse James Comer, we filed a complaint in King County Superior Court to hold him liable for the damages Bungie suffered due to his sociopathic conduct.
— Kathryn Tewson (@KathrynTewson) July 12, 2023
“Comer has never denied his intent to terrify [the victims] (and by extension Bungie) because they did the job Bungie asked them to do by promoting the contributions of a Black creator to Destiny 2,” stated the ruling. “Indeed, immediately after this lawsuit was filed, he stipulated to an interim injunction that all but admitted his intent and his involvement.”
The player decided not to attend the ruling. Ultimately, Comer must pay a total judgment of £373,424 ($489,435.52) to Bungie, with interest increasing that sum at a rate of 12 percent per year until it is paid in full. Furthermore, there is now a permanent injunction against any contact between Comer and Bungie, its employees, and any member of the Destiny 2 community.
In other gaming news, EA Sports FC 24 is going to be released in late September for PC and consoles, but those who fork out for the Ultimate Edition get an early access window ahead of the masses.
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