Originally Posted by
Gadzooks
Here's the thing - there are 10 "John/Jane Does" in the filing, who may or may not be named later. Ion could be one of them. The state is claiming systemic issues of harassment and prejudice, so nobody in the company flow chart is off the hook, technically.
I find it interesting that J Allen was the one who handled the whole Afrasiabi issue - once in 2016 with a public outburst against female employees, and the verbal meetings with J Allen about his drinking and harassment (according to the filing). If I'm correct, this was when J Allen was the executive producer of the wow team, not President yet, so either Ion failed to address it, or Ion doesn't have the rank everyone thinks he has. But Afrasiabi reported to him, so he's involved in some way. Not that it's a automatic condemnation, but technically, if this reaches the court and isn't settled, Ion could be named. Or John Hite. Or any of the leadership in Team 2 and the executive office, and HR. The State sued the entire company, for a class/group of people, specifically as a systemic issue, so determining the system and who was directly involved and responsible is going to be impossible unless you're in the courtroom and hear the testimony and evidence. This case isn't to focus on specific people or events, but that the entire company needs to address and remedy what the state thinks is happening, for a distinct class of employees.
I don't think Ion did more than pass the buck on the Afrasiabi issue specifically, or it was too big and ugly for him to deal with, but I have no idea if he was involved in passing women over for promotions or knew of and allowed harassment under his watch, which is the bulk of what this lawsuit is over. As a department head, he's just as capable of being involved as any department head, especially when it comes to promotions, raises, hires, and how people are treated in his office. The Wow team seems to be a focus of the investigation, so make of that what you will. Ion isn't the issue here, the whole leadership and management of the company is, regardless if he's part of the problem or not.