Wizards of the Coast Employees Walk Out Over Hasbro's 'Tone-Deaf' Response to Overturning of Roe v. Wade

[Riley]

Dndbeyond, which is owned by wotc, is based in Texas.

The Hasbro Latin American HQ is in Miami, Florida

From Hasbro's own site it looks like they are hiring in many different states.… I'm guessing Hasbro will have to do something.

Definitely going to be some employees impacted by this.

The one part that seems to be missing, for us here if not for WOTC employees, is: what was the company’s tone deaf response?

 

[Riley]

I am just curious to know if anyone can point out the inciting "tone deaf" response by Hasbro.

Or: what the Prof said. (Too hard to edit my multi-quote post on my phone.)

 

[pukunui]

It may have been an internal memo to Hasbro subsidiaries and their employees rather than a press release, in which case we may never know the specifics.

 

[Eltab]

To the best of my knowledge, the "tone deaf response" was that neither Hasbro nor WotC had a press release ready when the Dobbs decision was announced, and they did not hastily create one.

Somebody in Washington State, or more plugged-in than I, may know more.

 

[Deset Gled]

If you want to be angry about any recent changes to laws, get angry at the people who are actually changing the law. WotC is, to the best of my knowledge, not that company. Direct your efforts at the people who are your actual enemies, not the people who support you but don't do it hard enough.

WotC employees should care about this. We should all be having discussions with our employers about this. But unless you work for a company that spends money lobbying in Congress, your employer is not the root cause of the problem. Don't let the people who are the real problem distract you with infighting instead of taking part in real and meaningful political opposition.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

So again, an unnuanced line about "full bodily autonomy" has a critical lack of necessary distinctions

I can’t respond to your post as fully as I’d like to, with the mod note. I know I’m not who you were speaking to, but phrases like “full bodily autonomy” and “the unabridged right to freedom of expression”, assume enough political wherewithal to know that they allow for exceptions where unrestricted liberty in one case endangers the public welfare or infringes the rights of other, such as yell fire in a crowded theater. Also, most of your examples are unambiguously cases where restriction of bodily autonomy is largely an injustice.

Finally, the two summaries that you provide in your last paragraph aren't accurate representations of the private company mentioned in the OP, which hasn't issued a statement with regard to the recent legal decision. It's that sort of escalation of rhetoric that prevents cooler heads from prevailing, and inhibits an exchange of ideas which can lead to things being worked out, rather than people digging their heels in and refusing to budge.

The criticism is exactly that they have not responded adequately to what the other poster described as the other side of the argument. No one is accusing Hasbro of stating that they don’t view women as human beings possessed of the same dignity and inalienable rights as men. Hasbro is being criticized for trying to “both sides” an issue wherein there are not two legitimate sides.

 

[billd91]

If you want to be angry about any recent changes to laws, get angry at the people who are actually changing the law. WotC is, to the best of my knowledge, not that company. Direct your efforts at the people who are your actual enemies, not the people who support you but don't do it hard enough.

WotC employees should care about this. We should all be having discussions with our employers about this. But unless you work for a company that spends money lobbying in Congress, your employer is not the root cause of the problem. Don't let the people who are the real problem distract you with infighting instead of taking part in real and meaningful political opposition.

Or, you know, try to convince your company to oppose the forces trying to control the bodies and undermine the health of about half their workforce or act to ameliorate the damage. Even if they aren't hiring lobbyists, that's still worthwhile.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

If you want to be angry about any recent changes to laws, get angry at the people who are actually changing the law. WotC is, to the best of my knowledge, not that company. Direct your efforts at the people who are your actual enemies, not the people who support you but don't do it hard enough.

WotC employees should care about this. We should all be having discussions with our employers about this. But unless you work for a company that spends money lobbying in Congress, your employer is not the root cause of the problem. Don't let the people who are the real problem distract you with infighting instead of taking part in real and meaningful political opposition.

Or, we can do both.

We really can do both. And both are worth doing.

The “free market” is not actually separate from our democracy, it is part of it. Ina different venue we might discuss whether that is good or bad, but it is pretty undeniably true. Entertainment corporations have become a sizeable part of the “Fourth Estate”, and as such thier action and inaction on issues like this matters. The ability to create immense social pressure to move toward Justice or injustice is an incredible power, and to squander it, to use the veil of neutrality to avoid having to take a stand on something like this that directly impacts many of your employees and the public that you serve, is immoral.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

All I'm going to say on the subject is, I find it a strange (and disappointing) world that this event exists for us to talk about. (The greater issue, not the WotC part. I have mixed feelings on that. I assume the employees know more about it than I do, though, and I respect their right to protest).

 

[Hussar]

Definitely going to be some employees impacted by this.

The one part that seems to be missing, for us here if not for WOTC employees, is: what was the company’s tone deaf response?

Yeah, I have to say that I'm having all sorts of questions about this "news" story. An anonymous Twitter account calls out WotC for a "tone deaf" response, that no one apparently has seen, and the Twitter account doesn't actually make public if it was an internal memo. I'm thinking that this is just someone trying to deflect attention from what @Deset Gled rightfully calls out as the appropriate people to focus on.