Fire Mike Mearls

Fire Mike Mearls

Started
May 22, 2020
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Signatures: 830Next Goal: 1,000
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Why this petition matters

Started by James Hargrove

Mike Mearls, former lead D&D developer, when contacted in confidence by self-identified harassment/abuse victims of Zak S. (aka Zak Sabbath, Zak Smith) who were concerned about your company's business relationship with this individual, dismissed their concerns, publicly attacked the veracity of their claims, and seemingly forwarded their personal contact information to the alleged harasser/abuser, directly facilitating more abuse. 

In the not-too-distant past (end of April), it was formally announced by Jeremy Crawford via Twitter that Mike Mearls was no longer working on D&D and had not been "since sometime last year".

Yesterday, we learned that this was not true and that Mike Mearls is absolutely still working on D&D, but had been temporarily reassigned to work on video games.

This is unacceptable. 

From both a human rights perspective (the seeming enabling of abuse and full on display of attacking victims publicly) and a security/trust perspective (seemingly forwarding, to an alleged abuser, emails and contact information provided to the company in confidence), this should end with the firing of Mike Mearls. Full stop.

Expecting his co-workers and subordinates to shoulder the responsibility of endorsing Mike Mearls, either explicitly or by omission, is not only unfair but actively hostile. Imagine having to choose between supporting your co-worker/boss and feeding your family, or standing up for decency. This should end with the firing of Mike Mearls. Full stop.

Fire Mike Mearls. 

 

[Edit: Language of this petition has been slightly modified on advice of legal counsel.]

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Signatures: 830Next Goal: 1,000
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