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2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations

156 Views • Created about a year ago By Phillip Hamilton • Updated about a year ago

Created By Phillip Hamilton • Updated about a year ago

kdin jenzen: My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there.

Kdin Jenzen @KdinJenzen My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there. Read: twitlonger.com/show/n_1ss5f7p 2:03 PM Oct 15, 2022 Twitlonger 14.9K Retweets 2,688 Quote Tweets 61.6K Likes
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2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations

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    My former Rooster Teeth colleagues can DM me or call me if they need someone to talk to.

    Noor Ata @TheNoorata ... My former Rooster Teeth colleagues can DM me or call me if they need someone to talk to. There are a lot of people going public about the trauma that they endured while working at Rooster Teeth. While I'm not sure if I'll make a public statement about my own experience, reading about our former colleagues' experiences can be triggering. It's definitely brought out old feelings in me. This weekend, I've seen more than one person reveal that the closest that they've come to taking their own life was when they worked at Rooster Teeth. If seeing all the news coming out has made you relive the trauma, you can always call me, even if we weren't close when working there. I worked at Rooster Teeth during my first year in this industry and it is still the most difficult experience that I've ever had. I think most of the animators I worked with were extremely talented and kind. I always get excited when I see a former RT animator moving on and being successful in their career. For people who are just now getting out or haven't found their footing, know that despite the Rooster Teeth experience being terrible, you are talented. You can do this job very well. Regardless if people told you otherwise, Rooster Teeth's conduct is not the industry standard. There are better jobs and studios out there that will respect your boundaries and compensate you fairly. I'm on the other side of it and life is definitely better. I highly advise anyone that is reliving the trauma to reach out to someone. You can call me to talk. If you need me to promote your reel on LinkedIn, reach out. If you want career advice or want the 411 on studios in LA, let me know. If you're in Los Angeles and want to meet up, you can reach me at
    Noor Ata @TheNoorata ... My former Rooster Teeth colleagues can DM me or call me if they need someone to talk to. There are a lot of people going public about the trauma that they endured while working at Rooster Teeth. While I'm not sure if I'll make a public statement about my own experience, reading about our former colleagues' experiences can be triggering. It's definitely brought out old feelings in me. This weekend, I've seen more than one person reveal that the closest that they've come to taking their own life was when they worked at Rooster Teeth. If seeing all the news coming out has made you relive the trauma, you can always call me, even if we weren't close when working there. I worked at Rooster Teeth during my first year in this industry and it is still the most difficult experience that I've ever had. I think most of the animators I worked with were extremely talented and kind. I always get excited when I see a former RT animator moving on and being successful in their career. For people who are just now getting out or haven't found their footing, know that despite the Rooster Teeth experience being terrible, you are talented. You can do this job very well. Regardless if people told you otherwise, Rooster Teeth's conduct is not the industry standard. There are better jobs and studios out there that will respect your boundaries and compensate you fairly. I'm on the other side of it and life is definitely better. I highly advise anyone that is reliving the trauma to reach out to someone. You can call me to talk. If you need me to promote your reel on LinkedIn, reach out. If you want career advice or want the 411 on studios in LA, let me know. If you're in Los Angeles and want to meet up, you can reach me at
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    Autumn Farrell My experience with Rooster Teeth

    autumn @_rufhaus 16th Oct 2022 from TwitLonger y Tweet 0 Like My experience with Rooster Teeth I am very angry hearing about these situations that Rooster Teeth's upper management and HR department swept under the rug. I can attest to this being a pattern, as I had to contend with one of those situations while I was managing Inside Gaming. The core of this is not my story to tell, so I will not be going into detail about the situation itself, but the day-to-day dread of being left alone as a brand new middle manager to deal with the problem is mine to speak on. This was not some hand-wavy situation with lots of gray area. This was a very black and white, unsafe, horrible issue that if it had happened ANYWHERE else would have been immediately dealt with. HR had been aware of this problem for over a year and did absolutely nothing about it. A few upper management people were aware and did absolutely nothing about it. It fell to the hands of myself and other middle management aware of the issue to protect our teams and try to navigate something incredibly complex and emotionally fraught. We had no power to actually do anything about it, no way to openly communicate with our teams about it, and we were forced to grin and bear it indefinitely. We brought up our concerns multiple times about allowing this to continue to poison our teams instead of someone in leadership dealing with the issue, but were ignored. At the time, with the pandemic to contend with, I didn't fully take in what an awful position HR and upper management had put us in. In hindsight, having worked in settings where people are expected to act professionally, and now knowing that this was just one of many things waved away, I feel stunned at how poorly this was handled. I feel angry that this was left to me and others with limited power to work around. I did know that this inaction was bound to blow up one way or another, so I made sure to include the problem in writing in my letter of resignation when I left at the end of 2020. One last (failed) attempt to get someone to do something about it, adding more documentation, and expressing that I left feeling unsafe and uncomfortable. I'm attaching said letter to this tweet thread. As I said, the core of this story is not mine to tell, so I blacked out identifying details. At the time I made my departure more about the opportunity presented to me by 100 Thieves, but this was not the truth. It WAS a great opportunity, and I'm very grateful they approached me, but I was not able to be open with my employees about the reality of the situation. I was not able to be publicly open about it. I was trying to leave on a good note and give HR the benefit of the doubt, that this was just a weird problem they couldn't fix for reasons I didn't understand. This was a mistake. Seeing how many other things they ignored is very upsetting. I wish I had been more experienced and understood how poorly this was handled. When you have multiple company and culture leaders waving something away that you KNOW is a terrible situation... it's a mindfuck. It's funny, because I've been open about Sugar Pine 7 being a bad work environment (as have the guys), but I've always soundly chalked that up to a group of young people being inexperienced and not knowing what the hell we were doing. We had problems but we were all open about it and attempts were made to fix things, even if they were misguided - good intentions were there. In stark contrast, Rooster Teeth was a corporate environment with what you would expect to be a functioning HR department, senior employees in leadership who were older and experienced, and they failed all of us involved in this situation (and many other situations, evidently) horribly. There were many people I worked with at RT who I think tried their best and were doing what they could, but you can't fix something inherently broken coming down from the top. The culture of protecting people in the limelight at the expense of those in the background, or those not as publicly popular, was toxic and bound to cause problems. Of course, years have passed since then, so my goal with this story is not to draw ire to who currently works there. I honestly don't know who's left who even knew of this situation/aided in sweeping it under the rug. I also adore everyone currently at RT West and I love seeing the current Funhaus group thrive. Lawrence and Omar were both amazing bosses who fought hard for us every day. My goal is to add to the voices coming out showing the significant pattern in ignoring egregious problems and passing the buck to the little guy. This should never have been something I had to contend with as someone barely in middle management, who had never held a management position in their life. I feel for anyone, whether or not they're coming forward, who was left in inappropriate and unsafe situations by the inactions of HR and upper management. It wasn't fair, it's not fair, and I'm glad some of it is coming to light now.
    autumn @_rufhaus 16th Oct 2022 from TwitLonger y Tweet 0 Like My experience with Rooster Teeth I am very angry hearing about these situations that Rooster Teeth's upper management and HR department swept under the rug. I can attest to this being a pattern, as I had to contend with one of those situations while I was managing Inside Gaming. The core of this is not my story to tell, so I will not be going into detail about the situation itself, but the day-to-day dread of being left alone as a brand new middle manager to deal with the problem is mine to speak on. This was not some hand-wavy situation with lots of gray area. This was a very black and white, unsafe, horrible issue that if it had happened ANYWHERE else would have been immediately dealt with. HR had been aware of this problem for over a year and did absolutely nothing about it. A few upper management people were aware and did absolutely nothing about it. It fell to the hands of myself and other middle management aware of the issue to protect our teams and try to navigate something incredibly complex and emotionally fraught. We had no power to actually do anything about it, no way to openly communicate with our teams about it, and we were forced to grin and bear it indefinitely. We brought up our concerns multiple times about allowing this to continue to poison our teams instead of someone in leadership dealing with the issue, but were ignored. At the time, with the pandemic to contend with, I didn't fully take in what an awful position HR and upper management had put us in. In hindsight, having worked in settings where people are expected to act professionally, and now knowing that this was just one of many things waved away, I feel stunned at how poorly this was handled. I feel angry that this was left to me and others with limited power to work around. I did know that this inaction was bound to blow up one way or another, so I made sure to include the problem in writing in my letter of resignation when I left at the end of 2020. One last (failed) attempt to get someone to do something about it, adding more documentation, and expressing that I left feeling unsafe and uncomfortable. I'm attaching said letter to this tweet thread. As I said, the core of this story is not mine to tell, so I blacked out identifying details. At the time I made my departure more about the opportunity presented to me by 100 Thieves, but this was not the truth. It WAS a great opportunity, and I'm very grateful they approached me, but I was not able to be open with my employees about the reality of the situation. I was not able to be publicly open about it. I was trying to leave on a good note and give HR the benefit of the doubt, that this was just a weird problem they couldn't fix for reasons I didn't understand. This was a mistake. Seeing how many other things they ignored is very upsetting. I wish I had been more experienced and understood how poorly this was handled. When you have multiple company and culture leaders waving something away that you KNOW is a terrible situation... it's a mindfuck. It's funny, because I've been open about Sugar Pine 7 being a bad work environment (as have the guys), but I've always soundly chalked that up to a group of young people being inexperienced and not knowing what the hell we were doing. We had problems but we were all open about it and attempts were made to fix things, even if they were misguided - good intentions were there. In stark contrast, Rooster Teeth was a corporate environment with what you would expect to be a functioning HR department, senior employees in leadership who were older and experienced, and they failed all of us involved in this situation (and many other situations, evidently) horribly. There were many people I worked with at RT who I think tried their best and were doing what they could, but you can't fix something inherently broken coming down from the top. The culture of protecting people in the limelight at the expense of those in the background, or those not as publicly popular, was toxic and bound to cause problems. Of course, years have passed since then, so my goal with this story is not to draw ire to who currently works there. I honestly don't know who's left who even knew of this situation/aided in sweeping it under the rug. I also adore everyone currently at RT West and I love seeing the current Funhaus group thrive. Lawrence and Omar were both amazing bosses who fought hard for us every day. My goal is to add to the voices coming out showing the significant pattern in ignoring egregious problems and passing the buck to the little guy. This should never have been something I had to contend with as someone barely in middle management, who had never held a management position in their life. I feel for anyone, whether or not they're coming forward, who was left in inappropriate and unsafe situations by the inactions of HR and upper management. It wasn't fair, it's not fair, and I'm glad some of it is coming to light now.
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    This didn't age well. 🙄 #RoosterTeeth

    Graven Lupus @Graven131982 This didn't age well. #RoosterTeeth Rooster Teeth @RoosterTeeth Aug 14, 2021 Transphobia sucks and intolerance has no home in the Rooster Teeth community. Let's be inclusive and kind. If you disagree, you don't belong here. ...
    Graven Lupus @Graven131982 This didn't age well. #RoosterTeeth Rooster Teeth @RoosterTeeth Aug 14, 2021 Transphobia sucks and intolerance has no home in the Rooster Teeth community. Let's be inclusive and kind. If you disagree, you don't belong here. ...
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    Lots of feelings. I hope my friends and former coworkers all find places that make them feel enriched, fulfilled, valued, seen, and appreciated.

    Eddy Rivas @eddyrivas Lots of feelings. I hope my friends and former coworkers all find places that make them feel enriched, fulfilled, valued, seen, and appreciated. 12:25 PM . Oct 15. 2022. Twitter for iPhone
    Eddy Rivas @eddyrivas Lots of feelings. I hope my friends and former coworkers all find places that make them feel enriched, fulfilled, valued, seen, and appreciated. 12:25 PM . Oct 15. 2022. Twitter for iPhone
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    Rooster Teeth's Response To Misconduct Allegations By Kdin Jenzen

    As an almost 20-year-old company that started in the earliest days of online video and grew rapidly alongside the rise of internet culture, we have faced inevitable mistakes and interpersonal challenges. 2020 was a year of broad societal change that brought past conduct to our attention. Many individuals at Rooster Teeth acknowledged personal responsibility for their actions both internally and externally. We as a company took that moment to seize the opportunity to respond and improve. Over the last two years, we've spoken about challenges with the community, pledged to do things better, and implemented internal actions to advance structural improvement. Specifically, we began by bringing in new leadership to drive this internal work. This led to engaging a DEI consultant, a management firm specializing in cultural growth and workplace change, outside HR support, and external management training consultants. In addition, we engaged an outside compensation tool in 2020 to review our internal pay bands and completed our initial pay parity review in 2021. As our organization continues to evolve, this will be an ongoing exercise and continual effort. Our dedication to change has included the valuable input of many team members across the company, Kdin being one, and we're grateful for their collaboration. We have held ourselves accountable, and everyone in the organization has committed to establishing the Rooster Teeth Way-a comprehensive and aspirational set of values and behaviors anchored by our purpose and vision-carefully crafted with the input of the entire company. These values are reinforced by workshops and management training, employee business resource groups (BRGS), increased channels for feedback, both direct and anonymous, and immediate action when warranted. Leadership, management, and personnel across the company have evolved over the past two decades to build what we believe is a safe, secure, and inclusive workplace. We are disheartened to hear of anyone who has experienced pain resulting from prior experiences working at Rooster Teeth and support the resolution of interpersonal conflicts through direct and honest dialog. New leadership has worked to address and investigate past conduct, acknowledging that mediation is complex and doesn't guarantee a perfect solution. We are committed to hearing every side of each dispute and operating within our authority to uphold the company's values and behaviors. Out of respect for all parties, the company will not comment publicly on these matters. Many employees who have voiced past grievances choose to continue working with us, and we continue to encourage them to share their stories as they wish. Acknowledging employee turnover, we are not immune to the disruptive forces that affect every business and workplace today. Like many other companies, we are experiencing people leaving to pursue different career paths and opportunities, while others are making bigger life changes. Additionally, external economic pressures have impacted some of our business units. As a result, we had to make tough decisions to reduce a handful of roles in select departments to adjust to marketplace realities. While these targeted actions do not amount to a significant reduction in overall employee headcount, it is still difficult to have to lay off anybody at any time. Since our work is largely project-based, as different shows and channels get created and come to an end, we hope to continue working with many of these people in the future. We are proud of the work they have done and also proud of being a place where artists and entertainers have unusually long tenures in the world of entertainment. Some of them are already working on new projects you will see soon. Openness and transparency are critical to our growth and dedication to doing better. We cannot imagine this is easy for anyone in our community to be reading and hope that even if you're questioning your support, it will remain with the people that you met through the shared interest of who we are. We genuinely believe in the progress our team has made over the past two years, and stand by our words and our actions, pointing to the work we have done and continue to do to acknowledge past transgressions, though the work is not done. As we mature in our 20th year, we will continue to move forward together as a passionate, creative company and community with open hearts and minds.
    As an almost 20-year-old company that started in the earliest days of online video and grew rapidly alongside the rise of internet culture, we have faced inevitable mistakes and interpersonal challenges. 2020 was a year of broad societal change that brought past conduct to our attention. Many individuals at Rooster Teeth acknowledged personal responsibility for their actions both internally and externally. We as a company took that moment to seize the opportunity to respond and improve. Over the last two years, we've spoken about challenges with the community, pledged to do things better, and implemented internal actions to advance structural improvement. Specifically, we began by bringing in new leadership to drive this internal work. This led to engaging a DEI consultant, a management firm specializing in cultural growth and workplace change, outside HR support, and external management training consultants. In addition, we engaged an outside compensation tool in 2020 to review our internal pay bands and completed our initial pay parity review in 2021. As our organization continues to evolve, this will be an ongoing exercise and continual effort. Our dedication to change has included the valuable input of many team members across the company, Kdin being one, and we're grateful for their collaboration. We have held ourselves accountable, and everyone in the organization has committed to establishing the Rooster Teeth Way-a comprehensive and aspirational set of values and behaviors anchored by our purpose and vision-carefully crafted with the input of the entire company. These values are reinforced by workshops and management training, employee business resource groups (BRGS), increased channels for feedback, both direct and anonymous, and immediate action when warranted. Leadership, management, and personnel across the company have evolved over the past two decades to build what we believe is a safe, secure, and inclusive workplace. We are disheartened to hear of anyone who has experienced pain resulting from prior experiences working at Rooster Teeth and support the resolution of interpersonal conflicts through direct and honest dialog. New leadership has worked to address and investigate past conduct, acknowledging that mediation is complex and doesn't guarantee a perfect solution. We are committed to hearing every side of each dispute and operating within our authority to uphold the company's values and behaviors. Out of respect for all parties, the company will not comment publicly on these matters. Many employees who have voiced past grievances choose to continue working with us, and we continue to encourage them to share their stories as they wish. Acknowledging employee turnover, we are not immune to the disruptive forces that affect every business and workplace today. Like many other companies, we are experiencing people leaving to pursue different career paths and opportunities, while others are making bigger life changes. Additionally, external economic pressures have impacted some of our business units. As a result, we had to make tough decisions to reduce a handful of roles in select departments to adjust to marketplace realities. While these targeted actions do not amount to a significant reduction in overall employee headcount, it is still difficult to have to lay off anybody at any time. Since our work is largely project-based, as different shows and channels get created and come to an end, we hope to continue working with many of these people in the future. We are proud of the work they have done and also proud of being a place where artists and entertainers have unusually long tenures in the world of entertainment. Some of them are already working on new projects you will see soon. Openness and transparency are critical to our growth and dedication to doing better. We cannot imagine this is easy for anyone in our community to be reading and hope that even if you're questioning your support, it will remain with the people that you met through the shared interest of who we are. We genuinely believe in the progress our team has made over the past two years, and stand by our words and our actions, pointing to the work we have done and continue to do to acknowledge past transgressions, though the work is not done. As we mature in our 20th year, we will continue to move forward together as a passionate, creative company and community with open hearts and minds.
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    Gavin Free's Response To Rooster Teeth Misconduct Allegations And Kdin

    Gavin Free @GavinFree Today, Kdin continued an important conversation that I've referred to vaguely in the past and rather than tweet something vague or just attempt to push forward, today I want to stop and take full responsibility for my past behaviour at Rooster Teeth. Firstly, I don't want anything I say here to be construed as an excuse - there simply aren't any excuses for my past behaviour. In the past I certainly played a role in other people's unhappiness with my s--- attempts at humor and I look back on these moments with disgust in myself. I'm absolutely shocked by what I used to think could pass as comedy or "just joking around". I used to think that I could say or do offensive things because those around me knew it was beyond absurd that I would speak that way - basically, the intent was to shock and the content of my character would excuse it - I couldn't have been more wrong and I fully acknowledge how stupid and hurtful that way of thinking was. Before Kdin bravely came out and transitioned, I did use that horrifically offensive nickname - it didn't matter that I was under the impression that we were all in on a joke - it was hurtful and wrong. Full stop. I would never use that kind of language in any context today, but again, that doesn't excuse my behaviour and I completely acknowledge that. In the years since, I've tried my absolute best to grow as a human being and would never, ever behave in this manner now - again, I'm beyond ashamed when I think back and I am forever grateful to the amazing individuals like Kdin who have shown me more grace than I was ever deserving of as I've worked to put my hurtful behaviour behind me. 8:53 PM - Oct 15, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone
    Gavin Free @GavinFree Today, Kdin continued an important conversation that I've referred to vaguely in the past and rather than tweet something vague or just attempt to push forward, today I want to stop and take full responsibility for my past behaviour at Rooster Teeth. Firstly, I don't want anything I say here to be construed as an excuse - there simply aren't any excuses for my past behaviour. In the past I certainly played a role in other people's unhappiness with my s--- attempts at humor and I look back on these moments with disgust in myself. I'm absolutely shocked by what I used to think could pass as comedy or "just joking around". I used to think that I could say or do offensive things because those around me knew it was beyond absurd that I would speak that way - basically, the intent was to shock and the content of my character would excuse it - I couldn't have been more wrong and I fully acknowledge how stupid and hurtful that way of thinking was. Before Kdin bravely came out and transitioned, I did use that horrifically offensive nickname - it didn't matter that I was under the impression that we were all in on a joke - it was hurtful and wrong. Full stop. I would never use that kind of language in any context today, but again, that doesn't excuse my behaviour and I completely acknowledge that. In the years since, I've tried my absolute best to grow as a human being and would never, ever behave in this manner now - again, I'm beyond ashamed when I think back and I am forever grateful to the amazing individuals like Kdin who have shown me more grace than I was ever deserving of as I've worked to put my hurtful behaviour behind me. 8:53 PM - Oct 15, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    Kdin Jenzen's TwitLonger "My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there"

    My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there. I've been waiting to say anything directly for a long time on this subject in hopes that something - anything - would change and get better, but it's obvious that this is just "how it is there." So it's time for me to finally say something about Rooster Teeth. I joined the company, officially, as a contracted content creator and editor in February 2013. I worked to create a monthly video game news/release series. I produced episodes every month until I was officially hired as a full time content creator/editor in November of 2013. From February 2013 until November 2013, I went entirely unpaid for all of my contract work. I was never given the payment promised for anything I did. When I was hired full time and I brought that up, I was told that "it's been so long already, it's not really a big deal is it?" And then the subject was never brought up again. Within a few weeks of working at Rooster Teeth I was given a nickname, that nickname was a slur. Every day I came into work I was called "F*gg*t" - but they could not use that name in content so when anyone was recording I was called "Fugz" instead. For any fans who used that nickname for me for years, that's what you were calling me. I couldn't say anything about it, I had reported the use of that nickname for years to HR, and nothing was ever done about it and the videos that use that nickname for me are still up. When Christmas rolled around my first year, 2013, I was given a "bonus" of about $100. Any money I had at the time was extremely helpful as I had nearly nothing to my name, so I was grateful for it. But a long time member of the company looked at me as I was handed my small bonus and scoffed "Why do YOU get a bonus? You've only been here for five minutes." In my first years there I would arrive at work around 7am (two hours before everyone else) to begin editing videos and would often have to stay until 9pm to get as much work done as possible. This was actively encouraged so we could have a backlog of content, but I was always given "rush orders" to edit more important videos to go out either the same day or next day. That's when the crunch began for me and it did not end. From that point on harassment started, and not just toward me. Any time I brought up mistreatment or that "making fun of people in content only encourages the community to hate us" - I was waved away saying "IT'S JUST A JOKE! Ignore the comments!" This "ignore the comments" mantra was a way to excuse their own behavior. Anyone who was not "important" was constantly made fun of with no way to defend themselves or be part of the content in a way to defend themself even jokingly so. We were silenced at every turn. Jeremy, Matt, and I tried to make content together as often as we could in those earlier days. And we rarely got the chance to do so. I remember being yelled at for making the Zelda video with Matt after it had already gone up because it was a "waste of time". During that time I was put into a position where I ignored my own physical health to focus more on work, which eventually caused me to come down with pneumonia. I spent several days in the hospital with a fever over 112F. When I was released I was back to work only a few days later and with the same work schedule. Eventually I had enough from the department I was working for at the time and moved departments in hope that I would be better treated elsewhere in the company. I still loved the work I did, I loved some of the people at the company, and I believed that if I put my effort into it I could make things better for everyone. The department I transferred to promised me a producer job and show running their new podcast while also being tasked to edit videos and sometimes write stories for news channel. I was never given the producer position in that department, I was never allowed even near the podcast unless they were "desperate for a last minute person", I went entirely uncredited for anything I wrote for them, and I was pushed to edit 3 videos from start to finish every day with little to no turn around time so they could be posted immediately. My hours in that department were 7am until 11pm. I was crunching harder than before. I wasn't allowed to be in anything. I had my name removed from everything I worked on. I was put in an office where I was forgotten about and swept under the rug, people even IN the company forgot I worked there with how sectioned off and pushed aside I was. In 2016 I came out as trans and many people at the company publicly voiced their support on social media. Inside the company however, things got worse. People had no idea how to deal with a trans woman, so I was interacted with even less and only trotted out every so often to show off "We Hire LGBTQIA+ People!" It was only at this point where the nickname "Fugz" finally stopped being used all the time. Three years of content with that name being used toward me and all that content is still up. During that time my acting manager began to harass me and lie to the community any time I was "planned to be on camera and couldn't show up" - many times it was said to the audience watching that I had already gone home" when I was in the other room crunching to finish my job and the work of my manager. The harassment continued and I began to spiral into a deep depression, wondering what I could do, I eventually reported it to HR and the "solution" was that they brought in my manager who was harassing me into a Two-On- One meeting where the manager said "oh I'm sorry" and that was it. The way I was treated did not change at all and actively became worse. I then went to one of the founding fathers of the company to express my concerns, and was told that I was "too nice to work at Rooster Teeth" and that I should "just quit and find somewhere else to work" - I was horrified. At the moment I couldn't do anything but feel horrified and powerless. I was an out trans woman in Texas in 2018 and was told "just quit and find work elsewhere in Texas" a state that actively finds ways to keep our rights from us. Throughout my employment I also struggled to get the company insurance to cover my transition despite Rooster Teeth telling me that "Oh it's all good" - because of their inaction and lack of help in this matter I amassed horrible amounts of medical debt despite being "completely covered" by them. I still am recovering from this debt now as Rooster Teeth has been underpaying me for years, my raises were frozen by my manager at the time, and because of that I never received a proper raise even up until I quit earlier this year. Until the end of 2020 I was paid around $40k per year as a Producer/Director. Far below the industry standard. If not for the help of one person fighting for me to be paid properly, I wouldn't have gotten bumped up to the pay of the lowest paid person next to me. Which was nearly $70k. I was shocked that I was being underpaid by nearly $30k. During the 2019 layoffs, I was actually one of the people affected. I was very nearly laid off as well, but was told to either move to LA and work there (at the $40k per year rate which UNLIVABLE in LA) or be laid off immediately. I agreed to move to LA, Rooster Teeth said they would be giving me $5k moving costs to pick up my life and move to LA by March of 2020. The money never was given to me and then COVID forced the company into moving to remote, meaning my job was actually saved by COVID happening. Crunch during the height of COVID was monstrous. Every department was forced to push out more and more content and do more and more work to make up for "losses" - many of us were working 7 days a week and extremely long hours. I helped run the 2021 Anniversary Stream Event, but in the middle of production I had to undergo life saving surgery and was told I needed AT LEAST two weeks rest before going back to work. The person I was working with to schedule that event took credit for all the work I did up to that point and then BLAMED ME for anything that went wrong with it because "I wasn't doing my job" while I was recovering for major surgery and was on mandated medical leave. BRGS (Business Resource Groups) were created at this time to help with representation issues inside the company. I did everything I could to help the other BRGs as well as the Queer BRG I helped lead. By mid 2021 1 was told "we've done enough for the queer community" - which hurt to hear as I felt like we had barely accomplished anything and were still struggling to have accurate representation on screen as most of our PRIDE stream events featured mostly Cis/Het talent still. During this time there was a lot of outspokenness for the mistreatment of minority groups inside of Rooster Teeth from former employees, lots of fans asked "Why didn't you all do anything about it?", to which I say actual ground level employees did everything they could. But we could only do so much. At that moment I asked for transparency for how others, not just one or two employees, were treated in the company - myself included - and was essentially told that "the company is going through a lot right now just leave it alone". How I was being treated and how others were being treated was once again swept under the rug. I left Rooster Teeth because, despite thinking I could make positive change in the company, they proved that I couldn't every step of the way. From 2013 until 2022, I did what I could to help my fellow employees, make positive change, and help the industry. It's also worth mentioning that for every bit of VO I did before I left Rooster Teeth, I wasn't actually paid for any of it under the idea that "I was an employee, so I don't need to be paid for VO." In that case and the way it was viewed, I was paid less than $30 per hour for each of my VO sessions. Which is well below any industry standard. But I was ultimately silenced and pushed aside. This is all really just the surface level, there's so much more I want to say but honestly it's all so exhausting at this point and I've done everything I can. I still struggle regularly with the emotional, mental, physical, and financial damage that was done to me over those years. There are good people still working there, I'm friends with them, and I wish them the best. TL;DR - Feb 2013 - Nov 2013. Unpaid Contract Work - Fugz F*gg*t, reported to HR nothing was done - 2013 Christmas "Bonus" $100. Long time members disapproved of said bonus - 14hr work days, rush orders for same or next day videos - "Any time hate us" - I I brought up mistreatment or that "making fun of people in content only encourages the community to was waved away saying "IT'S JUST A JOKE! Ignore the comments!"" RT crunch caused pneumonia, no recovery period on return - Crunched harder, physically isolated "people even IN the company forgot I worked" - RT never fulfilled their deals promotion deals - 15 hr work days - 2016 came out as Trans, Transphobia harassment started - Acting Manager lied to the community and harassed me, HR did nothing and enabled harassment - Founding Fathers knew and did nothing. Said "too nice to work at Rooster Teeth" and "just quit and find somewhere else to work" - RT did not properly support medical insurance coverage - End 2020 Position Producer/Director, paid $40k. Next lowest paid person was $70k. - 2019, forced to move to LA or get laid off. RT never paid moving costs. COVID forced remote jobs thus SAVING my job -RT INCREASES crunch during COVID - 2021 Anniversary Stream Event. Had LIFE SAVING surgery, majority work stolen by coworker and blamed production failures on me during MEDICAL LEAVE. - BRG created to help PRIDE stream events still mostly Cis/Het talents Handful of - Mistreatment of - Unpaid for with representation issues, mid 2021 RT said "we've done enough for the queer community" minorities in RT ignored the company is going through a lot right now just leave it alone" VO work during tenure at RT, May Marigold and RWBY Fairy Tales included. good people. Bad Company.
    My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there. I've been waiting to say anything directly for a long time on this subject in hopes that something - anything - would change and get better, but it's obvious that this is just "how it is there." So it's time for me to finally say something about Rooster Teeth. I joined the company, officially, as a contracted content creator and editor in February 2013. I worked to create a monthly video game news/release series. I produced episodes every month until I was officially hired as a full time content creator/editor in November of 2013. From February 2013 until November 2013, I went entirely unpaid for all of my contract work. I was never given the payment promised for anything I did. When I was hired full time and I brought that up, I was told that "it's been so long already, it's not really a big deal is it?" And then the subject was never brought up again. Within a few weeks of working at Rooster Teeth I was given a nickname, that nickname was a slur. Every day I came into work I was called "F*gg*t" - but they could not use that name in content so when anyone was recording I was called "Fugz" instead. For any fans who used that nickname for me for years, that's what you were calling me. I couldn't say anything about it, I had reported the use of that nickname for years to HR, and nothing was ever done about it and the videos that use that nickname for me are still up. When Christmas rolled around my first year, 2013, I was given a "bonus" of about $100. Any money I had at the time was extremely helpful as I had nearly nothing to my name, so I was grateful for it. But a long time member of the company looked at me as I was handed my small bonus and scoffed "Why do YOU get a bonus? You've only been here for five minutes." In my first years there I would arrive at work around 7am (two hours before everyone else) to begin editing videos and would often have to stay until 9pm to get as much work done as possible. This was actively encouraged so we could have a backlog of content, but I was always given "rush orders" to edit more important videos to go out either the same day or next day. That's when the crunch began for me and it did not end. From that point on harassment started, and not just toward me. Any time I brought up mistreatment or that "making fun of people in content only encourages the community to hate us" - I was waved away saying "IT'S JUST A JOKE! Ignore the comments!" This "ignore the comments" mantra was a way to excuse their own behavior. Anyone who was not "important" was constantly made fun of with no way to defend themselves or be part of the content in a way to defend themself even jokingly so. We were silenced at every turn. Jeremy, Matt, and I tried to make content together as often as we could in those earlier days. And we rarely got the chance to do so. I remember being yelled at for making the Zelda video with Matt after it had already gone up because it was a "waste of time". During that time I was put into a position where I ignored my own physical health to focus more on work, which eventually caused me to come down with pneumonia. I spent several days in the hospital with a fever over 112F. When I was released I was back to work only a few days later and with the same work schedule. Eventually I had enough from the department I was working for at the time and moved departments in hope that I would be better treated elsewhere in the company. I still loved the work I did, I loved some of the people at the company, and I believed that if I put my effort into it I could make things better for everyone. The department I transferred to promised me a producer job and show running their new podcast while also being tasked to edit videos and sometimes write stories for news channel. I was never given the producer position in that department, I was never allowed even near the podcast unless they were "desperate for a last minute person", I went entirely uncredited for anything I wrote for them, and I was pushed to edit 3 videos from start to finish every day with little to no turn around time so they could be posted immediately. My hours in that department were 7am until 11pm. I was crunching harder than before. I wasn't allowed to be in anything. I had my name removed from everything I worked on. I was put in an office where I was forgotten about and swept under the rug, people even IN the company forgot I worked there with how sectioned off and pushed aside I was. In 2016 I came out as trans and many people at the company publicly voiced their support on social media. Inside the company however, things got worse. People had no idea how to deal with a trans woman, so I was interacted with even less and only trotted out every so often to show off "We Hire LGBTQIA+ People!" It was only at this point where the nickname "Fugz" finally stopped being used all the time. Three years of content with that name being used toward me and all that content is still up. During that time my acting manager began to harass me and lie to the community any time I was "planned to be on camera and couldn't show up" - many times it was said to the audience watching that I had already gone home" when I was in the other room crunching to finish my job and the work of my manager. The harassment continued and I began to spiral into a deep depression, wondering what I could do, I eventually reported it to HR and the "solution" was that they brought in my manager who was harassing me into a Two-On- One meeting where the manager said "oh I'm sorry" and that was it. The way I was treated did not change at all and actively became worse. I then went to one of the founding fathers of the company to express my concerns, and was told that I was "too nice to work at Rooster Teeth" and that I should "just quit and find somewhere else to work" - I was horrified. At the moment I couldn't do anything but feel horrified and powerless. I was an out trans woman in Texas in 2018 and was told "just quit and find work elsewhere in Texas" a state that actively finds ways to keep our rights from us. Throughout my employment I also struggled to get the company insurance to cover my transition despite Rooster Teeth telling me that "Oh it's all good" - because of their inaction and lack of help in this matter I amassed horrible amounts of medical debt despite being "completely covered" by them. I still am recovering from this debt now as Rooster Teeth has been underpaying me for years, my raises were frozen by my manager at the time, and because of that I never received a proper raise even up until I quit earlier this year. Until the end of 2020 I was paid around $40k per year as a Producer/Director. Far below the industry standard. If not for the help of one person fighting for me to be paid properly, I wouldn't have gotten bumped up to the pay of the lowest paid person next to me. Which was nearly $70k. I was shocked that I was being underpaid by nearly $30k. During the 2019 layoffs, I was actually one of the people affected. I was very nearly laid off as well, but was told to either move to LA and work there (at the $40k per year rate which UNLIVABLE in LA) or be laid off immediately. I agreed to move to LA, Rooster Teeth said they would be giving me $5k moving costs to pick up my life and move to LA by March of 2020. The money never was given to me and then COVID forced the company into moving to remote, meaning my job was actually saved by COVID happening. Crunch during the height of COVID was monstrous. Every department was forced to push out more and more content and do more and more work to make up for "losses" - many of us were working 7 days a week and extremely long hours. I helped run the 2021 Anniversary Stream Event, but in the middle of production I had to undergo life saving surgery and was told I needed AT LEAST two weeks rest before going back to work. The person I was working with to schedule that event took credit for all the work I did up to that point and then BLAMED ME for anything that went wrong with it because "I wasn't doing my job" while I was recovering for major surgery and was on mandated medical leave. BRGS (Business Resource Groups) were created at this time to help with representation issues inside the company. I did everything I could to help the other BRGs as well as the Queer BRG I helped lead. By mid 2021 1 was told "we've done enough for the queer community" - which hurt to hear as I felt like we had barely accomplished anything and were still struggling to have accurate representation on screen as most of our PRIDE stream events featured mostly Cis/Het talent still. During this time there was a lot of outspokenness for the mistreatment of minority groups inside of Rooster Teeth from former employees, lots of fans asked "Why didn't you all do anything about it?", to which I say actual ground level employees did everything they could. But we could only do so much. At that moment I asked for transparency for how others, not just one or two employees, were treated in the company - myself included - and was essentially told that "the company is going through a lot right now just leave it alone". How I was being treated and how others were being treated was once again swept under the rug. I left Rooster Teeth because, despite thinking I could make positive change in the company, they proved that I couldn't every step of the way. From 2013 until 2022, I did what I could to help my fellow employees, make positive change, and help the industry. It's also worth mentioning that for every bit of VO I did before I left Rooster Teeth, I wasn't actually paid for any of it under the idea that "I was an employee, so I don't need to be paid for VO." In that case and the way it was viewed, I was paid less than $30 per hour for each of my VO sessions. Which is well below any industry standard. But I was ultimately silenced and pushed aside. This is all really just the surface level, there's so much more I want to say but honestly it's all so exhausting at this point and I've done everything I can. I still struggle regularly with the emotional, mental, physical, and financial damage that was done to me over those years. There are good people still working there, I'm friends with them, and I wish them the best. TL;DR - Feb 2013 - Nov 2013. Unpaid Contract Work - Fugz F*gg*t, reported to HR nothing was done - 2013 Christmas "Bonus" $100. Long time members disapproved of said bonus - 14hr work days, rush orders for same or next day videos - "Any time hate us" - I I brought up mistreatment or that "making fun of people in content only encourages the community to was waved away saying "IT'S JUST A JOKE! Ignore the comments!"" RT crunch caused pneumonia, no recovery period on return - Crunched harder, physically isolated "people even IN the company forgot I worked" - RT never fulfilled their deals promotion deals - 15 hr work days - 2016 came out as Trans, Transphobia harassment started - Acting Manager lied to the community and harassed me, HR did nothing and enabled harassment - Founding Fathers knew and did nothing. Said "too nice to work at Rooster Teeth" and "just quit and find somewhere else to work" - RT did not properly support medical insurance coverage - End 2020 Position Producer/Director, paid $40k. Next lowest paid person was $70k. - 2019, forced to move to LA or get laid off. RT never paid moving costs. COVID forced remote jobs thus SAVING my job -RT INCREASES crunch during COVID - 2021 Anniversary Stream Event. Had LIFE SAVING surgery, majority work stolen by coworker and blamed production failures on me during MEDICAL LEAVE. - BRG created to help PRIDE stream events still mostly Cis/Het talents Handful of - Mistreatment of - Unpaid for with representation issues, mid 2021 RT said "we've done enough for the queer community" minorities in RT ignored the company is going through a lot right now just leave it alone" VO work during tenure at RT, May Marigold and RWBY Fairy Tales included. good people. Bad Company.
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do

    kdin jenzen: My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there.

    Kdin Jenzen @KdinJenzen My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there. Read: twitlonger.com/show/n_1ss5f7p 2:03 PM Oct 15, 2022 Twitlonger 14.9K Retweets 2,688 Quote Tweets 61.6K Likes
    Kdin Jenzen @KdinJenzen My final words on Rooster Teeth & just SOME of my experiences there. Read: twitlonger.com/show/n_1ss5f7p 2:03 PM Oct 15, 2022 Twitlonger 14.9K Retweets 2,688 Quote Tweets 61.6K Likes
    2022 Rooster Teeth Workplace Misconduct Allegations
    rooster teeth rooster teeth harassment rooster teeth transphobia kdin jenzen fugz achievement hunter rwby gavin free rooster teeth accusations what did rooster teeth do