2y ago

Bungie wins $489K from player for racist harassment of employee

arstechnica.com

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2y ago

Bungie wins $489K from player for racist harassment of employee

arstechnica.com /gaming/2023/07/bungie-wins-489k-from-player-for-racist-harassment-of-employee/

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2y ago

Bungie wins $489K from player for racist harassment of employee | Ruling sets legal precedent for companies to recover costs from harassment campaigns.

arstechnica.com /gaming/2023/07/bungie-wins-489k-from-player-for-racist-harassment-of-employee/

5 comments

In finding Comer liable to Bungie for those costs—as well as over $80,000 in legal fees and $25,000 in statutory damages—the court also laid out the basis for "a new common law tort" that paves the way for other companies to do the same. As Tewson describes it in her Twitter thread, "the Court has created a path for those with the resources to identify stochastic terrorists and hold them accountable to do exactly that and recover their costs in court."
I am rarely on the corporation's side, but in this case, the outcome is the right one. While there's still a bar in that you need to be able to identify the person and have the resources to sue, this case sets a precedent that the behavior isn't okay.
Here's to hoping it stands on appeal, presuming the defendant bothers to appeal.
- Drowning in legal debt already might seriously discourage an appeal lol
Comer spent hours that day carpet bombing the Does with racist text and voice messages. Not satisfied, he decided to show the Does that he knew where they lived and could assault them there. Comer used an anonymous number to place a cash on delivery order with Domino’s Pizza for a virtually inedible, odiferous pizza. Comer instructed the delivery driver to “knock at least five times” on the Does’ door because he would purportedly be wearing headphones and so would need loud, insistent banging to learn of the pizza’s arrival. And he sent the order cash-on-delivery, to increase the chances of conflict between the Does and the delivery driver. Id. Comer again used the alias “Clay Bramston,” the same name he used on his voice and text messages. The order was dispatched to the Does’ home as a form of threat. Comer used Domino’s online order tracking system to confirm that the Does had received his pizza-shaped threat. Comer then left K. Doe another voicemail, telling her to “enjoy the pizza.”
That harasser is insane. There is no doubt that Bungie should have won.
Congratulations to them on the victory. I’m curious how much difficulty there will be in collecting the payout.
- Probably blood from a stone; but it does set a precedent at least.