More Reviews
REVIEWS GRiD 2 Review
Grid 2 surprised me. I was going through the motions, getting used to the cars and their handling, when suddenly something happened. I started having fun.

State of Decay Review
Undead Lab's zombie-infested action title has finally hit XBLA. Is it worth a few of your precious Microsoft Points, or should you whack it over the head with a two-by-four and continue on your merry way?
More Previews
PREVIEWS Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Preview
Everyone's favorite business model comes to the fighting genre.
Release Dates
NEW RELEASES Deadpool
Release date: 06/25/13

Dynasty Warriors 8
Release date: 07/16/13

Turbo: Super Stunt Squad
Release date: 07/16/13

Mamorukun Curse
Release date: 07/16/13


LATEST FEATURES Software Without GamePad Purpose Drives Nintendo's Disappointing E3
If Nintendo can't develop games made especially for the Wii U GamePad, then no one will be able to.

Xbox One Controller Hands-On
The more time I spend with the Xbox One's controller, the more subtle yet meaningful improvements reveal themselves.
 
Coming Soon

LEADERBOARD
Read More Member Blogs
FEATURED VOXPOP Starling
E3: PC or rather about the lack of it
By Starling
Posted on 06/15/13
E3 2013 has been very silent for me. There's tons of media, but most of it buzzes past my ears without them catching the important keyword that my ears are fine tuned to receive: "PC" or "Personal Computer". Microsoft, Sony, EA and Ubisoft have all shown their cards...

DAILY MANIFESTO

Brad Wardell: Great Boss Or Greatest Boss?

Posted on Friday, September 7 @ 16:35:00 Eastern by Guan_Yu

Forum user Guan_Yu has a few choice words for CEO Brad Wardell and the work environment he's promoting at Stardock Studios:

Stardock CEO Brad Wardell sued former marketing manager Alexandra Miseta last month on the claim that shortly before leaving the company, she stole or destroyed several marketing resources for the game Elemental: War of Magic, causing the rest of the team to dedicate weeks towards salvaging their marketing campaign and ultimately contributing greatly to the game's failure.

[The] suit seeks in excess of $1 million in damages from Miseta, claiming that just before quitting, Miseta "deleted, destroyed, and/or stole" the Elemental marketing materials, analytics, and trade show information. Without that information, the complaint argues, Stardock had to spend "vital time" leading up to Elemental's release "attempting to re-create" the marketing materials, "rather than programming, debugging, and otherwise readying Elemental for release."

Pretty shitty of her, right? Well, not really. There is zero conclusive evidence suggesting that marketing resources were destroyed in the last few weeks of the game's development. On top of that, several claims from current employees say that they didn't hear a peep about missing resources, let alone spend "vital time attempting to re-create" what Miseta allegedly destroyed. Finally, one particular employee testified that on top of giving a full week's notice in regards to her departure, Miseta also personally gave her team access to all of the files she had been working on with her time at Stardock.

So what's the issue? Time will only tell for sure, but the timing of Wardell's lawsuit against Miseta seems suspicious. This is because in 2010, Miseta filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Wardell.

Court records from the lawsuit show several troubling messages from Wardell to Miseta, as well as allegations of problematic in-person behavior. E-mail messages included in the records go back as far as March, 2008, and include a link to a sexually explicit YouTube video, a comment that Miseta was chosen to go to a conference "not just because you're 'hot'," and a 100-question "purity test" that he asked her to take and then send him her score from. The purity test includes questions like, "Have you engaged in group sex?," "Have you engaged in intercourse with an unconscious person, while conscious?," and, "Have you had anal intercourse?"

Witness depositions included in the case documents refer to multiple comments from Wardell to female employees about their breast and bra sizes, and one incident where he asked Miseta to attend a media tour because "[her] nipples look better on TV." They also describe a time on a media tour when Wardell's visit to the hotel room Miseta and another female colleague were sharing made Miseta feel uncomfortable.

Holy shit what a creepy little man. Understandably, Miseta sent an email outlining how she wishes to be treated like a professional, including the completely reasonable requests that Wardell not touch her body or hair, not talk about her private life or boyfriend, and that inappropriate jokes and negative personal opinions were not welcome in the workplace.

Wardell handle's things as only a champion among men knows how:

#3, however is not acceptable to me. I am an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and embarrassing person and I'm not inclined to change my behavior. If this is a problem, you need to find another job.

#4, Again, I am not willing to adapt my behavior to suit others. If you find my behavior problematic, I recommend finding another job.

I'm not some manager or coworker of yours. I own the company. It, and your job there, exist to suit my purposes, not vice versa. The company is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end which is to further the objectives of its shareholders (in this case, me).

I guess he's a gigantic asshole, too. Wardell furthers this point in responses made to Quarter to Three. Someone doesn't know that the first rule of lawsuits is to shut your fucking mouth to the public and let your lawyers handle it. I'm betting his legal team wishes they could put a muzzle on him until the case is over.

tl;dr: In short, Brad Wardell had been sexually harassing Alexandra Miseta since 2008. Miseta told Wardell to cease his behavior. Wardell spit in her face and told her she should find another job if she can't handle it. Miseta sued Wardell for sexual harassment and the lawsuit is still underway. She then called Wardell's bluff and quit the company in July 2012, weeks before a major game's release (which she was the marketing manager for). A butthurt Wardell then filed a totally non-retaliatory lawsuit against Miseta for allegedly destroying or stealing marketing resources for the game, except he has no evidence supporting his claim and his own employees are testifying in Miseta's defense.

This is completely disgusting to me and lawsuits aside, Wardell has been handling things like a complete dipshit. I can't wait to see how this pans out, hopefully a certain power-tripping nerd will get a reality check. This whole story sickens me and this type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable in a professional environment. Ugh.

What are your thoughts?
Related Games:   Elemental: War of Magic
Tags:   lawsuit


Comments
  • OdiousLupous
    OdiousLupous

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
    Win the sexual harassment lawsuit, have the retaliatory lawsuit shot down, start the defamation lawsuit, own his company, profit.
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff

    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
    Yeah but that's not going to happen. Everything is corroborated by other employees.
  • OdiousLupous
    OdiousLupous

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Sep 8th, 2012 at 7:41 am
    As long as this ******* keeps shooting his mouth off and the other employees back her shes winning her case.
  • Lenin17301
    Lenin17301

    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
    I'm sad and appalled by the blatant sexism of Brad Wardell, and I hope he gets what's coming to him on the courtroom. On another topic, any pics of Alexandra's nipples? I wanna see if they look good on the web too.
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff

    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
    Leave it to the GR commentariat to get this kind of stuff out there.
  • Lenin17301
    Lenin17301

    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
    I want to make clear that the second part of my comment was in jest, and that I am ACTUALLY appalled by the chauvinistic behavior of Brad Wardell, and I'm sure that he is as butthurt over that girl's rejection of his advances as the Andy Samberg's character on the "Like a Boss" music video, and that's the reason of his silly lawsuit.
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff

    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
    Haha, no worries. There have been worse jokes made around the ol' GR.
  • George1350
    George1350

    Joined: Sep 2012
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
    Think you hit that nail on the head Guan with the tl;dr summing up just how bad his situation is. And it's all his own doing; there'll be no one to catch him when he falls from grace. And this is good, because our industry doesn't need this kind of man calling shots. (Power Trippers)
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff

    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Sep 7th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
    It definitely hurts the industry's image. How're we supposed to get past the sexist and chauvinist labels we get from everyone else?
  • moretokes
    moretokes

    Joined: Apr 2011
    Posted: Sep 8th, 2012 at 6:00 am
    If Miseya was my woman I'd be going to jail for breaking wardells legs. What a piss poor example of a human being.
  • oblivion437
    oblivion437

    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Sep 8th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
    I'm not inclined to defend Wardell...he seems like a real jackass, but...

    Wardell claims the following:

    1 - Wardell/Stardock's suit against Miseta was filed a long time ago, not long after the original suit filed by Miseta.
    2 - Miseta's story isn't fully backed up either - witnesses, including personal friends of hers who no longer work for the company but were present at the alleged incidents, don't corroborate her statements.
    3 - Miseta (or her attorney(s)) are the ones who leaked the documents to the public that form the basis of the entire controversy.

    If any of these is true, it's enough to discredit most of the editorials and comments written on this topic. If item 3 is true, it's not at all unreasonable to infer that Miseta filed the original lawsuit as a pre-emptive strike to defray civil or criminal consequences for her actions. The only way I can see them not being true is if Wardell is flat-out lying.
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff

    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: Sep 9th, 2012 at 9:51 am
    Jeez, what a mess. Good points, but thankfully the courts have the responsibility of deciding.
  • gunnergoz
    gunnergoz

    Joined: Sep 2012
    Posted: Sep 10th, 2012 at 11:16 am
    Here's what I just posted on the elementalgame.com forums about the subject:
    (edited for brevity to fit here)
    (snip)...I'm sorry but I refuse to associate or do business with any firm or its owner who holds himself above the bounds of civility towards others, particularly towards his employees, and most especially towards women. Such a blatant lack of respect for another human being is appalling. (snip) I patiently sat through all of the problems with Elemental that Brad had the integrity to man up about and take responsibility for (snip) But it is tragic that Mr. Wardell cannot find within himself the necessary strength of character and innate decency to do the same about his behavior towards a female employee. (snip)
    Ban me, lock me out, freeze my account, do as you wish Mr. Wardell, but on no account ever expect me to use, buy, or recommend any product associated with any firm owned by or related to Brad Wardell in any way...

Post a Comment
LOGIN or REGISTER to post a comment or rate this article.
More On GameRevolution