Two Former Employees Are Suing Microsoft Alleging PTSD from Reviewing Extremely Disturbing Videos
Toggle Dark Mode
Two former Microsoft employees are suing the company for failing to offer them adequate mental health and psychological support as they reviewed photos and videos depicting “indescribable sexual assaults” and “horrible brutality”.
Henry Soto and Greg Blauert were members of Microsoft’s Online Safety Team, which is assigned the difficult and taxing task of keeping company platforms free of illicit and disturbing content, and forwarding illegal content to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as companies are required to do by law. Teams such as these perform the vital role of shielding customers’ eyes from horrendous images and keeping platforms user-friendly.
Soto and Blauert allege that years of being forced to watch gruesome videos of murders, child abuse, sexual assault, and all manner of stomach-churning content have given them psychological problems and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Blauert claims that when he raised concerns with supervisors, he was advised to “smoke”, “go for walk” or “play video games.” Soto says he was not sufficiently warned of the nature of his job and its potentially debilitating consequences by Microsoft. He claims he is now triggered when in close proximity to young children, including his own son, due to the “horribly violent acts against children that he had witnessed,” according to the suit.
They are suing their former employer for damages for the severe psychological toll they claim the years of witnessing unspeakable crimes and unimaginably disgusting content took.
Microsoft has issued a statement in response claiming that company offers cutting-edge mental health support “to ensure those who handle this material have the resources and support they need, including an individual wellness plan.”
