Back in March we reported that Lionhead lead designer, Jamie Durrant, was suing Microsoft for 'hurt feelings' and lost earnings (details here). Durrant and Microsoft have now reached an out of court settlement for an undisclosed amount of money. Included in the settlement was a non-disclosure or confidentiality clause.
A Microsoft spokesman commented to Pink News
"We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution to this matter with Mr Durrant. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we can confirm that Mr Durrant will not continue his employment at Lionhead as part of the agreement.
"Microsoft has a longstanding commitment to diversity. We attract, recruit and respect diverse talent and we have included sexual orientation in our anti-discrimination policies for 20 years.
"Our efforts have been recognised by a wide range of groups, including the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in its 2009 Corporate Equality Index. We do not tolerate breaches of our code of business conduct and take any complaints extremely seriously.
"Throughout this process, those to whom Mr. Durrant brought his concerns have taken them seriously and concrete actions have been taken to address them.
"Neither Mr Durrant's sexual orientation nor the nature of his complaint had any bearing on the way it was handled."
We've contacted Mr Durrant to find out what his future holds. His response is that "Well, I'm not eager to get back into the games industry just yet. I've had quite a few games companies contact me regarding work but for the moment, but I'm thinking about moving into creating movie quality props.
"I've always had a background in sculpture so I fancy doing more hands on design".
A Microsoft spokesman commented to Pink News
"We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution to this matter with Mr Durrant. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we can confirm that Mr Durrant will not continue his employment at Lionhead as part of the agreement.
"Microsoft has a longstanding commitment to diversity. We attract, recruit and respect diverse talent and we have included sexual orientation in our anti-discrimination policies for 20 years.
"Our efforts have been recognised by a wide range of groups, including the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in its 2009 Corporate Equality Index. We do not tolerate breaches of our code of business conduct and take any complaints extremely seriously.
"Throughout this process, those to whom Mr. Durrant brought his concerns have taken them seriously and concrete actions have been taken to address them.
"Neither Mr Durrant's sexual orientation nor the nature of his complaint had any bearing on the way it was handled."
We've contacted Mr Durrant to find out what his future holds. His response is that "Well, I'm not eager to get back into the games industry just yet. I've had quite a few games companies contact me regarding work but for the moment, but I'm thinking about moving into creating movie quality props.
"I've always had a background in sculpture so I fancy doing more hands on design".
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