Nintendo has responded to claims levied by a former member of staff that the company used “coercive actions” and interfered with their right to unionise.
Earlier this week, an anonymous Nintendo Of America worker filed a complaint with the United States National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) concerning coercive actions and statements, concerted activities such as retaliation and discipline, and discharge – which can mean either firing or a refusal to hire.
Responding to the allegations, Nintendo released a statement via Eurogamer that reads: “We are aware of the claim, which was filed with the National Labor Relations Board by a contractor who was previously terminated for the disclosure of confidential information and for no other reason.”
“Nintendo is not aware of any attempts to unionise or related activity and intends to cooperate with the investigation conducted by the NLRB,” it continued. “Nintendo is fully committed to providing a welcoming and supportive work environment for all our employees and contractors. We take matters of employment very seriously.”
Following the news of the filing, another former member of staff took to social media to call their time working at Nintendo “one of the most stressful and awful experiences of my life.”
Working for nintendo (contract for 3+ years) was one of the most stressful and awful experiences of my life. Coworkers were great, but I was constantly under pressure of being let go for little things like going to the bathroom or being stuck in traffic an extra 2 min b4 work. https://t.co/gbxqNfynmf
— Boyks (@the_boyks) April 19, 2022
Nintendo is yet to respond to those allegations.
While these are the first complaints to surface involving Nintendo, the wider games industry has seen an increase in worker disputes involving studios.
Activision Blizzard is currently involved in a lawsuit filed to the NLRB, which alleges the company of using coercive tactics to undermine unionisation efforts. Efforts to unionise at at the company’s Raven Software studio are still underway, however those involved were recently excluded from a company-wide quality assurance wage increase.
Elsewhere, employees at Ubisoft are continuing to fight for improved workplace conditions at the studio.
In other news, Facebook has released a statement denying allegations of COO Sheryl Sandberg threatening ongoing business relationships with a British newspaper over two stories concerning allegations against Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
