- Tommy Francois, vice-president of editorial and creative services at video game giant Ubisoft, has left the company after facing allegations of sexual harassment.
- Sources with knowledge of the matter told Business Insider he was fired following an internal investigation of complaints made against him.
- Ubisoft placed Francois on administrative leave in late June, pending an investigation.
- Francois was named in a Business Insider investigation into sexual misconduct and HR failures at Ubisoft. He is the latest in a series of senior employees to step down.
- Francois did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Tommy Francois, a senior employee at video game giant Ubisoft, has been fired after current and former colleagues accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.
Ubisoft confirmed his departure in an email to Business Insider. Sources with knowledge of the matter told Business Insider that Francois had been fired after an internal investigation into allegations against him. Francois was initially placed on leave without pay in late June, pending the results of that investigation.
He is the latest in a series of senior employees to leave Ubisoft, which has been rocked over the last month by allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault.
Francois was vice-president of editorial and creative services, based in Ubisoft's Paris headquarters, and was the right-hand man of chief creative officer Serge Hascoet. Hascoet resigned in July. As one of only a handful of editorial VPs, Francois was among the most senior creative minds at Ubisoft, and helped steer the company's biggest franchises, which include Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Tom Clancy's The Division.
In a July 31 email seen by Business Insider, Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot informed editorial staff that Francois had left the company.
An Ubisoft source with knowledge of the matter said Francois' departure did not include a financial settlement, although he will be able to keep any shares he has in the company.
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Francois did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Francois was named in a Business Insider report on July 24 into harassment and misconduct at the company, in which he was accused of boasting about masturbating during a business trip and massaging colleagues without asking. He also regularly commented on female colleagues' appearance, current and former Ubisoft employees said.
Many of the stories told to Business Insider echoed those in an extensive report in French national newspaper Libération, published July 1. Francois did not respond to Business Insider's investigation at the time but did deny the earlier allegations made in Libération via his legal representative.
Other investigations are still ongoing, CEO Guillemot added in the email to employees.
Francois joins Hascoet, head of Ubisoft's Canadian studios Yannis Mallat, global head of HR Cécile Cornet, and VP editorial Maxime Beland as senior staff who have stepped down in recent months. Cornet remains at Ubisoft in a different role.
This article was updated after publication with new information about Francois' departure.
