[GameSpot] - Former Nintendo QA Worker Gets $25K In Dispute Settlement

[343iBot]

Nintendo settled a legal dispute with a former contract QA tester, agreeing to a payout of $25, 910, and to post a notice informing QA workers of their right to unionize, in both email and physical form.

The tester filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) back in April. Both Nintendo of America and the staffing agency Ashton Carter have agreed to a settlement. Ashton Carter has taken liability for the complaint and will provide the aforementioned payout.

The payout consists of back pay, damages, and interest according to settlement documents obtained by Polygon. These documents include the exact message that Nintendo of America is now legally obligated to send its QA employees and contractors, though some parts of it have been redacted by the NLRB.

This is the notice that Nintendo will have to post, redacted by the NLRB. Needs to be emailed to all Nintendo of America testers (contractors or otherwise), too

Redactions by the NLRB for the sake of this FOIA filing pic.twitter.com/DjBx4Peald

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) October 13, 2022

The former employee in question, Mackenzie Clifton, alleged that she was fired for asking Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser about unionization. Soon after, Nintendo denied this claim and asserted that Clifton was fired for publicly revealing sensitive company information. When Clifton asked for evidence, Nintendo pointed to a vague tweet she made, which stated that a glitch had caused an unknown game she was working on to turn completely red.

The settlement does not state what the NLRB found and the terms of the settlement do not include Clifton's request for a letter of apology. This settlement comes after multiple reports of workplace mistreatment and sexual harassment in QA departments at Nintendo of America.

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