Chris Avellone files sexual misconduct complaint

[ad_1]

Share this article

Game writer Chris Avellone has filed a lawsuit over several charges of sexual misconduct.

The allegations were made against Avellone in June 2020, with two women sharing their accounts via Twitter. Shortly after the allegations, several developers severed ties with Avellone, most notably the developer of Dying Light Techland.

The personal injury lawsuit, filed by Avellone last Saturday, charges the two women with defamation, but also seeks damages from more than 100 other defendants, whose names are yet to be determined.

Prior to this weekend, Avellone had been silent on the matter for about a year.

However, in a post shared on Medium, Avellone claimed that the accusations regarding his behavior are false and are fueled by events surrounding a breakup.

Avellone went on to state that he had a consensual relationship with one of the women in 2012, while also claiming that he had never met or engaged with the other.

In his Medium post, Avellone speculated that the accounts about him were being shared as revenge for his break-up with a third woman that took place over six years ago.

None of the named defendants responded to the lawsuit and efforts to contact them for their comments were unsuccessful.

In the case, Avellone’s lawyers said he suffered damage to his reputation and lost work as a result of the charges.

Meanwhile, several lawyers have been publicly skeptical about the outcome of the Avellone case.

Kusk Law’s Dylan Schmeyer shared his thoughts on the filing in a Twitter thread, calling the charges “thin as tissue paper.” The reflections were shared and taken up by prosecutor Greg Doucette.

Richard Hoeg of Hoeg Law shared similar sentiments about the case in a video analysis of the trial. He also commented on the difficulty Avellone might face in winning this case due to its importance in the games industry.

“Defamation or libel lawsuits – especially against anyone with any name in any industry of any importance – are extremely difficult cases to win in the United States,” Hoeg said.

“Chris is one of the few people, I think, in video games who has a recognizable name,” he adds, pointing to popular titles and projects Avellone has worked on, such as Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars Jedi. : Fallen order.

“I don’t necessarily think a lot of things that are brought up here are particularly strong defamation claims, and I don’t think this lawsuit deals properly with trying to get Chris out of the bucket of being a public figure – especially one. Limited public figure in the gaming industry – because if he doesn’t get out of that bucket, I think it’s almost impossible to prove that these statements were made with the required standard. “

[ad_2]