Bethesda is under fire again this week as a former employee of ZeniMax Online Studios, developers of The Elder Scrolls Online, has shared their story of what happened after coming out as transgender.
For over a year, from her direct supervisor treating her differently to human resources (HR) not understanding the meaning of being outed, she faced hardships at ZeniMax Online Studios. When the situation was brought up to Bethesda, they did not help the employee. Instead, Bethesda offered her a deal that would pay for her COBRA premiums (health insurance). In exchange, she would resign and release Bethesda from any discrimination lawsuit.
“They were holding my surgeries hostage to coerce me into resigning.”
Leona Faren said in her four hour long explanation video
This is Leona Faren’s story about coming out as transgender at ZeniMax Online Studios and to Bethesda.
What’s in Leona Faren’s Four Hour Video?
Faren had been with ZeniMax Online Studios as a Media Artist since October 2018. She’s tasked to create images for The Elder Scrolls Online, using the in-engine. Faren shared her story on July 1, 2023 in a four hour long YouTube video titled “The Trans Experience at Zenimax / Bethesda.” Faren would also share her story on Reddit, across multiple LGBTQ+ subreddits. The post on r/trans has gained over 4,100 upvotes. In the video, she breaks down her story chronologically starting in January 2021 to May 2022. Detailing accounts of one-on-one conversations with notable people in ZeniMax Online Studios, especially with her direct supervisor whom she names “Elphaba.” She renames everyone in the story for the sake of anonymity and to not cause any targeted harassment. Dated voice recording, screenshots, and personal memo diaries are presented with additional text/voice audio/video for context.
The first time Elphaba gave Faren trouble was when Faren wanted to come out to her teammates. While a meeting was planned on January 29, 2021, Elphaba canceled the meeting during their morning scrum (a shorter meeting to see where work goals/progress is). Elphaba also showed Faren’s new photo during the last minutes of this scrum, effectively outing her and Faren losing control of how she came out. Despite Faren brushing it at the time, this would affect her emotionally as shown in later personal memo diaries.
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Later, the team was given a project in collaboration with the world building team which Faren was interested in. However, Faren was denied the opportunity. Elphaba cited only two slots were available and the two she selected would be fast enough to get it done. The final person on the project was personally requested by the world building team, leaving Faren the only one from her team to not participate.
Faren would express to Elphaba how she felt unfairly treated with a one-on-one conversation on April 15, 2021. Faren felt nervous to talk to Elphaba about anything, like she might interpret it incorrectly. Faren also felt excluded when Elphaba gave everyone else on the team Christmas gifts. Elphaba said:
“That was not personal, at all. I can tell you right now…you and [redacted] agreed to have [the Christmas gifts] sent to you or I was going to deliver them…it literally wasn’t personal. It’s sitting right there. I just forgot about it. It’s not that I’m trying to forget you. It’s life, it’s complicated. It’s COVID.”
Faren started crying when she talked about the moment when Elphaba outed her during the scrum a few months ago. The only word Faren can call it was “devastating.” Elphaba responded by not only deadnaming Faren, but following it with “I don’t understand.”
Elphaba would continue to treat Faren unfairly throughout the next year. Misgendering, giving late feedback, and outing Faren to new employees by showing old schedules/training videos. Faren wanted to change their name on the work programs but it caused technical issues, locking Faren out of her account. The problem started in July and continued into September. Elphaba called this “another chaotic situation.”
Faren would find sanctuary in Elphaba’s supervisor, Ozwald. He is the only one in Faren’s story to show an understanding perspective of where she’s coming. She admits she lied to Ozwald, telling him she didn’t record any of their conversations but she only recorded the first one. It was out of fear and habit as to why Faren recorded her first conversation with Ozwald. Before the recording, Faren had a personal message for Ozwald:
“Thank you. I never would have lasted as long as I did without you. Your intervention is the reason I’m still going…your involvement made all the difference in the world.”
When talking to the HR director at ZeniMax Online Studios, Clarice, Faren thought she understood what Faren was saying. However, when Clarice asked to clarify what it meant to be outed, Faren was shocked that Carlice didn’t know what it meant or even bother to ask earlier.
When Bethesda Stepped In
Following this interaction, with everyone Faren has interacted with at ZeniMax Online Studios thus far, she decided to contact Bethesda with all the voice recordings and screenshots as evidence. Faren said:
“They responded by viewing me as a liability that they needed to get rid of.”
Elphaba was the one tasked to give Faren her yearly review, scoring her all 1’s. According to Faren, the report stated she wasn’t getting the work done, making inappropriate comments, and other vague statements.
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Same day of the review, Faren was pulled into a call with HR from both ZeniMax Online Studios and Bethesda. Here, they offered to pay for all of Faren’s COBRA premiums in exchange to withdraw any discrimination lawsuit and resign from her position. Faren declined the offer.
She would continue to work under Ozwald, performing higher than the required expectations and disproving Elphaba’s original scores. After Faren’s first surgery, the offer from HR was still on the table. Faren signed because she was terrified. She said:
“I wish I didn’t. I wish I wasn’t so scared. I wish I still wasn’t so scared. But I signed.”
Faren currently has a case filed against Zenimax Online Studios but the charges are not clear. If you want to check out the summary of Faren’s four hour long video, you can skip to 3:50:24.
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