A former Krafton employee has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company after reporting an alleged sexual assault by former Krafton head of strategy and business Kevin Kimball.
The case, which alleges sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, false imprisonment, and wrongful termination, was filed in December 2023 at the Los Angeles Superior Court. The 31-year-old lady worked for Krafton from 2021 to 2023, and the claimed sexual assault on Kimball occurred on December 8, 2022, during a work-related party after the Game Awards in Los Angeles.
According to the lawsuit, the gathering started at a Los Angeles bar and then moved to a Striking Distance party, where the woman claims the assault took place. (Striking Distance is a Krafton subsidiary that develops narrative games set in the PUBG universe.) The lady claims in her lawsuit that Kimball made sexual advances on her while offering her more booze, resulting in a “forced sex assault in a bathroom stall.” According to the lawsuit, Kimball “forced himself” on her until she exited the restroom stall, crying.
The alleged sexual assault was reported to Krafton management, but the lawsuit claims it was “ignored” because the officials “did not investigate the complaints.” The woman was fired two months later in what the lawsuit describes as retaliation.
“These Defendants had the right, duty, ability and power to protect Plaintiff (and all females) from sex harassment, sexual assault and alcohol fueled debauchery yet nothing was done to address Kimball’s sex assault of the Plaintiff,” the lawyers claimed. Not only has the woman claimed financial anguish from “leaving her without income and unemployed from full-time work since [she was] suddenly fired,” but she also claims to have undergone “severe emotional distress,” including “great fear, disgrace, constant concern, [and] embarrassment.”
Kimball did not respond to our request for comment before publishing. A Krafton official told, “We take all complaints of unethical workplace conduct very seriously. We cannot comment on the specifics of the case because it is an ongoing legal situation.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Kimball worked for Striking Distance and Krafton for around three years, first as vice president of global marketing at Striking Distance before becoming Krafton’s head of strategy and business in January 2023, following the alleged attack. Kimball left Krafton in September 2023, according to LinkedIn. The cause for his leaving is unknown, although Kimball currently identifies himself as self-employed. Before joining Krafton, Kimball worked at PlayStation, Ubisoft, Zynga, and Electronic Arts.
