Microsoft 'Close' To Sacking Senior Dev Who Assaulted 7-Year-Old Son For Refusing To Stop Playing His Switch

Whoa whoa whoa… what the f***?

Does picking up weeds on other people's islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons count as community service?

@PessitheMystic exactly my reaction to this news.

does he still is the kid's guardian? If he is, this lawsuit is *****, the kid is still in danger.

It's a little worrying that he was charged with unlawfully assaulting his son.

Which would imply...

I think Child Assualt is a worthy dismissal for any company, let alone an games entertainment company. Tge way Microsoft acts with this case will give you an idea they are in dealing with the issues at Activision.

Running an article from the daily mail..?

@abdias quite extraordinary that he assaulted his child but the judge felt sorry for him (that's the way I see it anyway)

@Haruki_NLI : I sort of work in this field and an uncommon offence I encounter is "choke without consent", which would also imply...

@lolwhatno
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48419/this-be-the-verse
(Sweary)

@MrGawain Really you think your actions outside work should effect work, there is some massive grey area there.

As the court says, there is no crime here. So how the hell you can call him 'close' to getting the sack, I mean what even is close to getting the sack.

Why can I not comment?

Millions are in jail for an ounce possession of that real sticky icky.

Yet people get away with stuff like this…

Justice system?

What justice system

Edit I can now comment it didn’t like the use of a term for sticky icky? What if I was discussing the garden?!?

You should never hit a child, I know myself how hard It can be to get them to stop gaming or Just to do what you want In general

Headlocks are for when your out In the woods and a bear attacks not for someone smaller than you ya bully

Bribe them with something else, ask them calmly to stop playing for a minute, use parental controls

Nintendo already provide parental controls which don't require strangulation.

@Silly_G Wow. Just wow. Humanity is a truly bizarre construct.

Reminds of the joke that if there is casual snoosnoo there must be ranked competitive snoosnoo.

Except this isn't a meme 🤣

They should sack him. It’s unacceptable to hit a innocent kid.

We do not need to know about this. This is between the kid, the parent, the company and the courts.
In fact, I grew up in a time where the company wouldn't even get involved unless it directly impacted them.
How is this ANY of our business?

@Haruki_NLI hitting children is still legal in most countries, though is outlawed in Wales (or will be soon). There's presumably a line at which hitting children becomes unlawful assault which will vary between legal systems.

This was a hard read. Microsoft needs to let this employee go, ASAP. I've been very proud of them for their handling of the Activision fiasco, but if they let this guy stay on, I fear that will set a very bad precedent for what behavior they're willing to tolerate.

I am a vocal advocate of giving people a second chance, but when you attempt to inflict serious bodily harm on a child as young as 7--and your own flesh and blood, no less--you are a danger to everyone, including your coworkers, whose welfare you shouldn't care about as much as your son's. If you'd hurt them, you'd hurt anybody.

I recently got into a heated debate with someone on Twitter over the ethics of spanking. Having been spanked a few times as a kid with no lasting trauma that I am aware of, I think calling it child abuse is seriously overblown--especially compared to something as horrific as this. A mild slap on the bum to stop your child from running in the middle of the road is verrrrry different from making a death threat and attempting to strangulate them over something as petty as not getting off their Switch. (Not that the reason would make it any more justifiable, but still.)

If the father truly suffers from depression, I hope he gets the help he needs and can straighten himself out. As someone who's grappled with severe anxiety and depression myself, I understand how miserable it is and wouldn't wish it upon anybody. But the more I struggle, the less I want other people to endure the pain I've felt. Mental illness is a poor excuse for hurting other people. Mental health awareness is great and all, but people still need to take accountability for their actions if they entail harming others.

@Spider-Kev
Having a conviction can affect your current employment, but that, I guess, depends on where you are and who you work for.
As to the story, it's a tragic case with (imho) an odd outcome (more info needed?) that is tangentially linked to gaming.

@dew12333 a company's reputation is a valuable asset and so prominent companies usually have conduct clauses in their employment contracts which get more stringent with seniority in order to protect the value of this asset. The employee in question will have agreed to abide by this when they took the job.

Almost kills his kid -> only sentenced to 100h unpaid work
Wth?

And this is why I'm antinatalist.

100 hours of unpaid work is not enough. He needs to be fired and put on blast.

I remember the time my mum hit me with a hair brush and it broke. I laugh about it now. She also threatened to break my ****ing legs when I was laughing at something and couldn't stop. The latter I was in my 20s though. She was clearly having a tough day.
This sounds a little on the excessive side though.

@TryToBeHopeful @Spider-Kev

Well I, for one, am glad Sony booted one of their executives recently for sexting minors. They fired him almost immediately after he was exposed, and Microsoft should follow suit. Doesn't matter if it didn't happen on the clock if you're harming innocent kids. No corporation should accept that kind of behavior from their employees, regardless where it occurs--especially if that employee holds any power in the company. If you'd abuse your child who you have power over, you'd abuse your subordinates at work.

Now, I agree with you that it doesn't need to be our/the public's business--children who are abused don't need to be on the front page of every media outlet. Being outed like that will only add to their trauma, as they have to live with the shame and embarrassment of all their friends knowing their own dad hates them. I didn't need to see this in my news feed today--it benefits nothing. If NL is covering this article because they know the shock value will get a lot of clicks and comments, shame on them. Either disable ads on this article or donate al proceeds to child relief funds.

But their employers? Yeah, they need to know. Get 'em outta there.

What the hell is wrong with people man 😥

What is going through your mind to think to headlock your seven year old kid???

It’s so sad to think a parent would treat there kid like this over a console, over a kid just having fun, not thinking there father would look at them, and say I will stop your breathing.

It's not gaming that causes violence, it's the simpsons.

@Silly_G I mean, as far as consenting adults are concerned, a lot of people find choking to be kinky. I don't guess that should be prosecuted by law if it's a mutual thing, but it's definitely not something I would be turned on by. Too many things that could go wrong, and if my partner and I really love each other, why chance it?

Edit: Sorry if anyone interprets this as kink-shaming or anything. Not trying to judge, and I'm into plenty of stuff myself that isn't completely vanilla. But if you go too far with the rough play, I think it starts to get into a morally grey area that makes me kind of antsy to think about.

@oatmaster I understand that, but if there is no conviction does it move it into a bit of a grey area. He definitely stands more of a chance of getting sacked for this more than I do because his job is in the public eye.
Looks like his solicitor, and to a large degree the mans money has given him a chance of getting away with this.

@lolwhatno I don't see any poem. Did they delete it or something? Also--hello again, friend! I saw your reply on the Push Square thread, and by all means, take all the time you need before getting back to me! I understand you have other obligations.

Now, I'm not a parent, but i would have thought a child playing on Switch is better than a child not breathing. I'm appauled a father would even say that to his child.

@dew12333 aye, it's always a grey area - the contract will likely specify dismissal if the person is sentence to a prison term but otherwise it will be all words like 'reasonable' and 'significant' which are open to argument. Such arguments can either come to some sort of agreement or be decided by a tribunal.

@GrailUK He isn't a parent, either. Just some sadistic guy who happens to have a kid who was probably looking for any excuse to lash out his anger and disappointment with himself on someone smaller than him. It had nothing to do with the Switch itself.

@dew12333

Microsoft is a highly visible company that promotes certain standards, no different to Nintendo or Disney or a Sports team. If they ignore his actions and the press get hold of the story, they open themselves up to people questioning their brand. Just think of the people who have been fired from big brand companies for questionable Twitter posts, being caught using racist or sexist abuse, hurting animals, or having another job like being an only fans model. Microsoft have to show they practice what they preach.

Just take the switch out of his hands and turn it off while he’s hunting shiny Pokémon’s. That’ll be punishment enough.

I wouldn't be surprised if the guy is attempting to reach some sort of "I'll go quietly" agreement involving a payout in trust for the kid as the child is likely to suffer a long-term financial detriment as a result of this.

@RetroOutcast

Had to google what an antinatalist is. With all due respect, seems like a rather bleak world view. There are definitely people out there who have no business having kids--**coughs** this guy--but I don't think the act of procreation is just inherently evil. Human suffering is inevitable, but there is a lot of happiness and pleasure in the world, too. I don't know how a person could ever overcome depression with such a nihilistic world view that life is less than pointless--it's bad. If such a thing were true, we should romanticize suicide.

I've been in a very dark place before where I used to question whether it was selfish to have children, because I wouldn't want them to endure the same mental struggles I've gone through. But I don't like to let my mind go there. As a religious person, I'm trying to believe that every breath we draw is a God-given gift, and that in spite of the many hardships, there is hope of eternal joy in Heaven with no more heartache.

I can't imagine having never been born. To never experience love or, heh, 22 years' worth of playing video games. To have never learned how to draw or write or take an interest in animation, etc cetera. I hope this resonates with you, and frankly, I need to hear this for myself, as well. Started medicating a few months ago, and the difference in my mood has been astronomical. Things can and do get better. The past couple weeks have been a challenge again for me, but I'm trying to remember all the good, and how glad I was for hanging in there.

Pull out the power cord or take the console that's what my parents used to do. Fudge sake.

"unlawfully assaulting his son"? as opposed to...

@MrGawain

I'm a Christian with a rather traditional belief system on sexual promiscuity and the like, but even I personally think it's kind of silly to fire someone over having an Only Fans. The only exception would be if they work around kids, such as a teacher or something. If their students find out how to access their pornographic content, it would be really problematic, even if not the teacher's fault.

As far as questionable Twitter posts go, I'm probably guilty of several of those. Everyone has their own subjective point of view, and what one person I interprets as offensive might not be to someone else. I think those conversations are worth having though, so I've quit hiding my beliefs and pretty much just speak my mind about whatever these days. We can't come together unless we talk things out without immediately labeling the other party as a xenophobe trying to incite hate speech.

So it kinda rubs me the wrong way when I see companies fire an employee and issue a lawyer-approved PR statement to save face when what the employee said really wasn't that big of a deal. I get why they do it, but I don't like it. Now, there are cases like this one that clearly deserve action due to the severity of it. I think Microsoft definitely needs to part ways with this person, especially if they want to set a better precedent for Activision now that they've taken them under their wing.

Barely a slap on the wrist.

what in God's name did I just read? a father strangling his son? for playing a f***ing videogame? and what's up with "unlawfully assaulting"? when exactly is it "lawful" to assault your kid?

That father has a lot of stress. He needs help more than punishment.

@lolwhatno

Strange--I don't even see that person's comment. I had a feeling this was the poem though. We has to read and discuss it in a couple of my college classes. (I'm an English major, though I may have mentioned that to you in the other thread.) I also don't necessarily agree, and it could do without the profanity, but I know the pun wouldn't work without it. Apparently, the author is like the most renowned poet of modern Europe. I can't remember his name, though.

And seriously, dude--please don't worry about it! I promise it doesn't bother me a bit. You don't even know me outside Nintendo Life/Push Square, so you don't owe it to me to be punctual. I've enjoyed our lengthy discussion, but formulating a good response requires a lot of thought, so I don't mind having a breather in between, haha. And if I'm being honest, I also worry about not getting back to you--or others--fast enough. So let's both just agree to get back to each other when it's convenient. No pressure! I'd think differently if it was a lifelong best friend taking forever to get back to me when I know they got the Facebook ping, but I wouldn't hold you to that same standard, lol. I'm an unemployed bum with nothing but time on his hands to respond to comments.

@Not_Soos yo he was choking a child wtf

@GannonBanned That's how I interpret it, anyways. Don't wanna spread information, but the article used the word "throttled," which I googled, and it seems to be synonymous with choking.

@Silly_G I plead guilty in laughing a bit to hard about that joke.

Much ado about nothing. Both kid and pops took it too far - no one is hurt - internet gets outraged for half a day. The cycle of people embarrassing themselves continues.

@Spider-Kev protecting abusers is hurting the victims

@Not_Soos so I’m into kinky stuff but we’re talking about his son not his lover

I really hope they sack him, this behaviour is truly unacceptable! 😤😤

@MostHandsieBoy how did a 7 year old take it to far did you really both sides parental abuse

@oatmaster You should not hit a child... however I think that in some countries people go a little to far with what you can not do to your child.

My mom did never hit us, punishment was often just dealing with the fact you f-ed it up, because that was the better punishment in most cases.

She was also not the type to scream at us, heck I can count on 1 hand how many times my mom screamed at me in my life (30 years it is)

But is also depends on the child, I have seen enough kids make use of their parents being "too soft" or "too patient", so what she did worked because of how I and my sis were, I have seen enough kids that would mentally destroy such a parent and fully take use of that behaviour to their own benefit.

Anyhow I remember that one time my sister really went too far (long story, but in short that was once in her life moment she wanted to make use of my mom being "too patient")

In the end in the middle of the street my mom just yelled at her that if she doesn't stop, she can forget watching cartoons for 1 week (at her age back then a fitting punishment).

See my sister was screaming and yelling the whole time, in a busy street with a ton of people and no one gave a F about that, but the moment my mom yelled just once everyone looked at her like she was murdering the poor child.

Anyhow bad luck not ending there, the teacher of my sister saw it and my mom was demanded to come to school the next day to talk with the teacher, school psychologist of the school and the principal because they where "worried" about what happened.

And now the best part of all this, parents like my mom get such treatment at the spot, but when there is real abuse of a child, mostly at their home nobody does ANYTHING about it.

I hate my country for that, double standards much.

As for this case, the guy shcould get a fitting punishment which is not going to happen.

@HollowSpectre note that there were multiple people present AND he had “disagreements” with his partner on how to parent - maybe nobody else had a problem with the screen time except him

@TryToBeHopeful yeah but I’m confused how it came up

@TryToBeHopeful 11 yes 6 no I think - I missed 11 tho

Why was this man not charged with and convicted of attempted murder? The clue is when he said “I will stop him breathing.” Police officers have sent to prison for doing this to suspects they have detained.

@GannonBanned No, no, no--that comment of mine was in response to someone else saying that in their line of legal work, they see people charged with "choking without consent," and they were uncomfortable about the implications that someone could be choked **with** consent. At least that's how I interpreted their comment. That's why in my reply I made sure to use the words "consenting adults" in discussing how some people were into that sort of thing. It was nothing to do with the article itself. Sorry for the terrible confusion, lol.

@BLAZINOAH maybe in the UK - in the US it’s ok for cops to choke people unless the cameras are rolling

@Not_Soos i got you - my frenemy @TryToBeHopeful set it straight - I was abused as a child physically so I was missing the context in my “OMG”ianity

Good lord. If defiance is an issue and video games are the vector, you take that frustration to the video games. When I was a kid my brother and I were frequently disrespectful to our dad while playing NES. He pulled out some scissors and cut both controller cords, mid game. We had to do yardwork to earn the money to buy replacements and we straightened the hell up real quick.

@GannonBanned Okay, cool. I'm very sorry you had to go through that. I hope you are mentally in a much better place now. Rest assured, I would never condone any act of violence or sexual harassment toward a child. Take care of yourself, bud. Much love.

Seems like he watched too much Simpsons.

Why you little..

@TryToBeHopeful hahaha I was assuming you’d remember me from the Street Fighter fracas and smile at the joke

@lolwhatno That'd explain it, lol. I'll try to figure out how to un-Ignore them it if that's the case. You're quite fluent in English! I'd never be able to tell you're a non-native speaker. What is your first language? And what country are you from, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm in a very fortunate position right now where I'm still living at home with very supportive parents, but now that I'm a legal adult (which still feels so weird to say--even after 4 years), I don't wanna mooch off them forever. It just makes me kinda feel behind in life, ya know? Like I should have accomplished more by now and I'm just wasting my time by not being more productive. Makes it hard to enjoy sitting around playing games when you're bearing yourself up for not having a job, lol. I need to get out of that mindset, though. I guess it just takes time.

Edit: Oh, and antinatalist means exactly what you think it means. I had to google it because I wasn't sure, either. I may be an English major (and class Valedictorian), but even I don't know everything about my language, unfortunately. 🤣

@Silly_G make him buy a switch and play with his kid?

@Haruki_NLI self defense or attacking to defend someone else is likely considered "lawful assault" by name under their laws. It likely has less to do that it’s his kid (the wording of the charge I mean) and more that he had no reasonable reason to use violence.

@GannonBanned he's estranged, so I assumed it was his time to watch him.

@icomma Some people got really mad at me on Twitter recently for my opinions about spanking. I was spanked a few times as a kid, but not often. Personally, I don't consider it abuse. It kinda makes me sick that there are people who would lump my parents into the same category as someone like this monster. And I find it very ironic how some people will try to make fun of me for not accepting that I'm a victim. At that point it's like, do you even really care? Honestly, spanking never left any lasting trauma on me or anything, but all the people on the Internet trying to tell me why my parents are horrible people and I'm using denial to cope sure did. But that's just where I'm coming from. Hope that view doesn't offend you.

Should had bought his son the Steam Deck then maybe he'll stopped playing his Switch. But seriously man no need to assault the boy, just take the Switch away from him and let him work for it. Some kids will be more obedience if you make them work for it. Had him finish his homework first then clean his room and then give him the rest of the hours of free time to himself.

@TryToBeHopeful we are on the same side it was a joke sorry digital communication, etc

@Not_Soos i got beat with a belt until I bled so I don’t share your experience but hope you won’t minimize mine

@TryToBeHopeful ah. That would make sense.

Excuse me? I don't even have words to describe what I feel about this.

Nintendo has one of the best parental control systems in place to remotely prevent your kid from playing his or her Switch for more than a set amount. I never tried it to see how it works in practice, cause I have no kids of my own, but no other console maker that I know of has that to my knowledge.

There's no excuse for the assault on the kid (I would joke about the whole "XBox dev's kid plays too much Switch, dev gets angry" but kid assault is a bridge too far even for my own dark flavour of humour).

I don’t get how some people even have kids if they treat them like this

I recall the image of Homer strangling Bart.

@GannonBanned Of course not. When my parents spanked me, it may have stung for a couple seconds, but that was the extent of it. Drawing blood is unacceptable. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

@MostHandsieBoy Im sorry but how the heck did the kid take it to far? And surely whatever he did didn’t deserve a #$& headlock.

His actions goes far beyond parental punishment to Child Abuse. Whom in their right mind would resort to this kinda Violence is a in all sense a BULLY. Jail time won't work here it should be 5 years mandatory working at Violence shelter for those abused so he learns Anger management and what it does to victim's long term. That kid has trauma for the rest of his life-he did that damage and it's will show up when the kid becomes a adult himself.

No laughing matter, but… not a good way to exclusively make him play Microsoft products

i cant tell if this dad is a dad or bad lol like who does that are you insane like what a stupid guy

I mean, whatever else happens, he very clearly needs to be separated from the child.

"I'll stop you breathing"?

Those aren't the words of a well-adjusted human being. No child should have to suffer the terror of living with an authority figure who rules them through fear and violence.

@Erigen Joking at the expense of another, especially a child that got traumatized, is despicable behavior.

@MostHandsieBoy the kid is 7. You can't place equal blame on him. The parents responsibility is to literally NOT do that

Unlawful assault? There's a legal assault on a child?

Also, odd that someone in the game biz would flip-out over a kid playing a Switch.

Wait “sacked and throttled”. Crikey! That’s what happens to the internet in Australia too!

Really? Strangling a child? Because he won’t stop playing his switch? If you told the kid to stop playing his switch and do his homework/chores etc. then just take the switch away.
But if the kid has nothing to do then why tell him to stop playing?
Also WHY THE DUCK DID YOU HAVE TO STRANGLE HIM AND SAY IM GONNA STOP HIM FROM BREATHING?!?
I’m one of those guys who don’t see spanking as abuse due to getting spanked as a kid and I still love my parents. Also I know if I told my parents to shut up I’d be in the hospital!
Honestly this guy should get fired and jailed because even if you don’t see spanking as abuse STRANGLING YOUR CHILD is way too far!

@GamerDad66 Spanking is still legal in most places I am guessing.

@BloodNinja
Yes, only me and no one else in the entire comments.

Dude should be in prison for a very long time.

@Rayquaza2510
The worst punishment was the old I am not mad, just disappointed. When that happened to me, in my head I was screaming just yell at me for peat sake.

I don't know WHY he would do it. I can imagine that some MIcrosoft Employees must take some butt-hard loyalty oath, to only use Microsoft Products and to never use anything of the Competition's, be it Sony, Apple, or Nintendo. That's about as crazy as being in a cult of Sausage-loving fanatics who NEVER get tired of sausage, and when you DO get tired of it all the time, you end up plowing the sauerkraut fields!

Yeah, I was thinking about "Schnit-Heads" from Rocko's Modern Life. It DOES teach us that all that's shiny isn't sausage... or something.

I mean, a spank and smack here and there when they are misbehaving is enough to correct them, but that was way too much. Never go full homer simpson.

A wonderful example of the subjectivity of legality in action.

Pirate some software? You get jail and 15mil in fines.

Almost murder someone-- a child, no less, for playing video games and 'almost' get sacked.

@YoshiAngemon This isn't about product loyalty IMO.

does it really necessary to strangle your own son? why not put the Parent Control option on the console, or give a punishiment by taking the Switch and giving only after a specific amount of time.

@Giancarlothomaz Those are all viable options, but unfortunately, common sense rarely is common.

@icomma

It's okay, no worries. Everyone's entitled to believe what they want to believe about how to best raise their kids, and you're very respectful about it. You aren't like those self-righteous Twitter jerks trying to convince me that if I don't have a strained relationship with my parents, I'm part of the problem, lol.

Personally, I wouldn't rule out spanking altogether, but it should be a last resort. The way I see it, if you have a child that is too little or too feisty to reason with, it may be a necessary disciplinary action if they risk seriously hurting themselves or somebody else. For instance, if you have a kid who keeps trying to let go of your hand and run into the middle of the road. If rationally explaining why it's dangerous to play in traffic doesn't work, I think a little smack on the bum is a safe, controlled way to teach them that road = pain without them having to learn the hard way that results in hospitalization or death.

My brother has a kid, and he spanks him sometimes for things that I don't think necessarily warrant it because he can be a little impatient when my nephew is acting out. (Say, if he purposely spills something in the floor when he knows not to.) It isn't a hard smack on the butt, mind you, but it's enough to get him to stop. I'm not a parent, so I can't say for sure how I would handle it, but there are situations where I feel like he could've done without spanking. That said, I don't think my brother is a bad or violent person. He loves his little boy dearly and is a very present and attentive father. He's just parenting the way he was patented, which he feels is the right thing to do.

As you said, it's a very complex issue with a lot of factors to consider. But it's a touchy issue, and people (especially on Twitter) can be far too reactionary. I get it, because children are like the most precious thing we have on this planet. But if you can't have a rational conversation with someone to talk these important issues out without gaslighting them into believing they're suppressing childhood memories, that's where I take issue. So, thanks for not being like that, lol.

@Zorox88 "You have people that really beat their kids to death" "He was angry, you think you would have killed the kid?" These sentences are very contradictory. You just admitted that it can and does happen. Maybe re-read the article again. The dad verbally stated he was gonna make his son stop breathing, he got him in a choke hold, his face turned red, and he hollered for his mom who ran up to stop the commotion. It wasn't Karens in a grocery store who witnessed this and "overreacted." It was the man's wife, who should know better than anyone if her husband is presenting a danger to her son. I believe on due process of the law and innocent until proving guilty--I generally try to give people the benefit of the doubt and not judge on something I'm ignorant about--but the evidence is pretty damming here. We can't just wait till the kid is dead to convict.

I still think @Damo @NintendoLife aught to either disable ads on this article or--better yet--donate the proceeds to a child welfare organization. As others have said, this article really has no business being here on what is supposed to be a "family" Nintendo site. Its relevance to the rest of the content here is questionable at best. If you ban users for excessive swearing, then why cover such a triggering topic? Unless you all knew it was gonna get a lot of clicks and comments. (Which I've admittedly been complicit in.) Hope I'm wrong about that, but do the right thing and don't profit off a child's trauma. Just because other forms of journalism outside the gaming sphere stoop that low doesn't mean you have to join them.

@Zorox88 this is one of those comments where it's like, why even post it, you know it's going to get deleted, you know nobody is going to agree with you, are you just venting about how sweet child abuse is? what?

@UmbreonsPapa appreciate someone in these comments willing to call it like they see it

@Taylor88 Thanks, @Zorox88. Pro tip: If you're gonna use a seperate account to pretend like you're two different people, don't end your username with "88" for both of them. It's a bit of a dead giveaway. I'm not even the one who said that to you.

@BLAZINOAH your username is ringing a huge bell with me as someone who got booted off a forum for aggro reasons but can't place it. CaB? An Alien(s) one?

@icomma Why'd you tag him twice? 😉

Sorry to hear

This guy sounds like the type of guy who probably also beats his wife. What a sorry excuse for a human.

I'm sure that's not the first time. And if it is, then I hope there's a swift divorce, restraining order and the judge refusing to let him come into contact with his kid. What the ****?

@Not_Soos ummm paranoid much?

No, there’s no “getting close” to firing someone over that, you drop that sack of **** immediately.

@Taylor88 Nah, that's just what the voices in my head want you to think.

@Rambler The judge has probably seen alot lot worse. It sounds like it was a one time incident, and not something that was happening continuously.

@Stocksy First off, no one is in jail for an ounce. They actually just give fines for that. Yes, there are lots of people locked up who shouldn't be. A better example is should people be locked up for not paying child support? Because there are people in jail for that.

@Spider-Kev That's kinda interesting if companies should be allowed to fire someone over an incident that happens outside of work when they are representing the company. Politicians won't pass a law like that though because they want to work at those companies when they leave office and the companies given their political party money.

@Not_Soos You do understand that if this person doesn't work at Microsoft he is going to be working some place else? Is the solution he should never have a job anywhere? What's the difference if he works at Microsoft or some other company you never heard of? There is this knee jerk cancel culture that people should be fired from their job for doing something stupid or wrong. Guess what? Sometime in your life you are going to do something stupid and wrong. Because you are human being.

"I'll stop you breathing"
Not if the grammar police don't get YOU first.

@Not_Soos I don't think I agree with this sentiment. A place shouldn't cover topics because they are controversial? I think controversial topics are the ones we need to talk about the most. One thing I learned in life is that no issue or problem ever became better by ignoring it really really hard.

@Rambler It's linked to gaming though. I think the success of the article is more dependent on how many people read it and how many people engage with it. Judging by the amount of comments, why should Nintendo Life stay away from stories like this? The user base is active on this. I'm sure you didn't even read of the more obvious gaming articles but you did read this one, right?

Ah yes, as opposed to lawfully assaulting your son

@huyi I see this alot but he has to work somewhere right? So if he gets fired from Microsoft but start working at Apple thats fine? You do see the dilemma with this kind of thinking? Because he is going to work somewhere.

@thinkhector

So, I actually agree with you on a lot of points. I don't think we should ignore controversy either, I just think there's a time and a place for it. This site doesn't really have a precedent of covering triggering topics like this and generally prides itself on being a family site. That doesn't mean it shouldn't still be discussed though--hence, why I've still made so many comments here.

And I get you, I'm not a proponent of cancel culture, either. I've been very vocal against it. Some of my views are a bit more "Conservative" than a lot of people, and sometimes I do worry about losing job opportunities because my opinions are different from the general consensus about what is "politically correct."

Whether a person's words are perceived as sexist/racist/hate speech, etc. is a subjective opinion, and I don't think a person should be fired over a controversial tweet that was dug up years ago, or even a current opinion they hold and are vocal about if their intention isn't to hurt anybody. I think conversation and talking things out is important; no one should have to hide their beliefs for fear of scrutiny and mob retaliation.

For this specific case, this is a clear incident of child assault. It's up to the court to make the final verdict as I don't know the whole story, but it sounds pretty bad, and I don't see my perception on it changing. I believe in second chances, due process of law, and giving people the benefit of the doubt. But from what I've read, I think this guy needs to be jailed for much longer.

Unlike some people probably do, I don't wish this guy to be dead or anything, and I genuinely hope he is able to fix himself and get his life back together. Maybe jail him for 5 years (during which time he would obviously be unemployed), and after that, his employers might re-evaluate his termination if his behavior has been good. But if he is known to prey on people weaker than him, I don't think he needs to be let back into an authoritative position. If it were me, I wouldn't hire him back, but if he were, I don't think he should have the same opportunities to climb the corporate ladder as his cohorts.

But again, I get where you're coming from. Racism is obviously horrible, but when I see an underage minor make a tasteless Tik-Tok video using racial slurs and stereotypes and thousands of grown adults start harassing them and laughing about how they've blown their future opportunities and no college will accept them, that doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth. People deserve the opportunity to grow and learn from their ignorance; people say college hypnotizes you into being a "woke Liberal SJW" anyways, so you'd think they would want her to get accepted into a good college.

@thinkhector

2/2--my initial comment was too long, lol.

I try to look at it on a case-by-case basis. ZeRo faced a lot of harassment, including by some members of Nintendo Life (Jon Cartwright), over the allegations against him. I don't agree with what he did--if it's true--but ZeRo is a guy who has been very open about his struggles with depression and suicide. He made one mistake years ago when he was still too young to legally drink, and people still labeled him a pedophile. I have a lot of empathy for him and think the situation was blown way out of proportion. I had a feeling he would make another attempt at taking his life, and I was unfortunately correct. It would be different if he were continuing to perpetuate the same behavior, but he wasn't. It was hard to jump to ZeRo's defense because everyone was so quick to label you a predator sympathizer if you did.

What he did, if true, was gross and manipulative. But I was more bothered by him taking advantage of an awestruck fan and manipulating her emotions than the age discrepancy between them. He should've known better, but I think he was still a young, dumb kid in a lot of ways. Labeling a teenager a pedophile for life for messaging another teenager is a bit of a stretch, if you ask me. It still shouldn't have happened, and I feel bad for the girl in question of course, but I don't think ZeRo's punishment fit the crime at all, and what was done to him probably damaged his mental health way worse than what he ever inflicted on anybody.

We don't know whether this father will perpetuate the same behavior or not, though, so I feel it's best to approach it with caution until he's shown genuine signs of change. I honestly think we share a lot of common ground in our views. But, it's too soon to say whether the father has learned a lesson, and I don't think we should take any chances where kids are concerned until he's demonstrated genuine progress in being better.

Microsoft were about to give him the boot till they learned about the 100 free hours of labour.

What a horrific read.

@PessitheMystic
This stuff happens I grew up with a very physical aggressive Father. He put me through non less than three walls, fist fight me, used belts and paddles. I have made it my life mission to never raise my own Daughter through fear.

@thinkhector I dunno. He threatened to kill the child, then performed an act that was tantamount to doing so.

The report doesn't make sense to me: he was found guilty, received a punishment that was unfitting, but wasn't convicted.

Basically, if he starts another relationship, and his new partner has suspicions that he has a violent temper, then they will not be able to find out he has a conviction for that (happy to be corrected if this is wrong).

@TryToBeHopeful Oh geez, I had no clue. I googled it and yeah, it's pretty bad. You'd think NL would crack down on it, but I guess there's no way to prove that's their intent behind it.

@lolwhatno

Thanks man, I really appreciate it about the job stuff. I guess I shouldn't be too down on myself; I did graduate college as class Valedictorian, which took a lot of effort. And that was on top of dealing with my crippling mental health that at times made me feel like I was gonna have to drop put.

That's awesome you speak three languages! I don't blame you for feeling a little smug about it, haha. This may sound weird, but as human beings, I think it's natural to be a little self-absorbed. I think the important thing is to try to be as humble as you can on the outside, in spite of the inflated sense of self-importance we may feel on the inside. Which, it sounds like you were doing that, so I think you handled it well! It'd be neat to learn a new language, but I can't think of many things that would be more tedious lol, so I don't really see myself doing it. And yes, "trip over your words" is an acceptable expression we use! Do you have something similar in Arabic?

I guess being a native English speaker gives me a bit of a privilege. I had a buddy who was an Italian exchange student one time, and he explained to me that, in his words, "English is the language of business." So, if you want to go into commerce, being able to communicate in English is super important l, according to him. I guess because of the number of large-scale corporations that are established in America.

Being from a very small, predominantly white community, I haven't had the opportunity to befriend very many Arabs. I was friends with a Muslim buddy named Yusuf I met online through Miiverse when that was still a thing, lol. Haven't really talked to him since the service shut down. Maybe I should try to get up with him sometime.

There's a decent number of Black and Hispanic people where I live, a handful of Chinese, a couple Filipinos, and maybe a doctor or two who is Pakistani or somewhere thereabouts. That's about it. I live in a pretty poor coal mining community in Appalachia where most of the people who live here are the white people who have been here forever. Not a lot of opportunities for work, so there's no real reason for minorities to come here. Lots of white folks are even migrating out of here for better job opportunities (not sure if you're aware, but at least in the US, coal production has taken a very severe hit due to pushes for green energy). That kinda adds to the reasons why it's hard for me to find work right now, lol.

At university, I was friends with several Chinese students some Latinos, and a girl from Japan. There were definitely some Middle-Eastern students there, but I didn't really see them in my particular field of study. There was one girl with a hijab I would see around in the dining area every now and then, but that was about it. I love learning about other cultures, though. I just think it's really neat!

@lolwhatno

2/2. Again, I couldn't fit it all in one post. NL is gonna ban me for spamming. 🤣

I hate to say it lol, but I've never even heard of Bahrain, to be honest. Why don't you like associating with it? Is it a rough country? If you're just speaking generally, I get what you mean, though. I'm American, but I don't like the overzealous nationalism of some of the people here. Nothing wrong with being proud of your country I don't suppose, but the common perception is that we are the greatest country on Earth, and I don't know that I would agree with that. I personally think it's a little silly to get upset over taking a knee during the national anthem. Then you have the selfishness that has come out of people over COVID, the hostility between our two political parties... it's not the proudest time to be an American, lol.

@TryToBeHopeful Huh, I can't find anything on 1888. Three 8's are apparently associated with Jesus for some practicing Christians, from what I just read online. I'm Christian, but I've never heard of this practice.

Bill Gates did the same thing to his kids when they bought iPhones.

When the kids play too long, either have I have suck it up and play the game with them, or convince the wife its just time to buy another switch...

World's gone soft.

Kids deserve a slap once in a while.

@Rosalinho Never resort to plan B first.

wow, the poor boy will live in fear from that monster for the rest of his life. Just as terrible was the pathetic "sentence" he received

@Haruki_NLI Well, by the letter of the law (at least in the US), any unwanted physical contact is considered assault, so technically there could be lawful assault (i.e. grabbing your kid to prevent harm) if the UK has the same definition.

@thinkhector
They are at home, they aren't representing the company.

This isn't really related to gaming at all. Please report on the games industry, upcoming games, whatever, but not on child assault by a random microsoft employee. I understand, it generates clicks...

That's so messed up. I'm glad someone else was out there looking out for him. Poor kid... All just for using a Nintendo product?

@TryToBeHopeful My bad. I'm not a lawyer. I got battery and assault mixed up, lol. He's being prosecuted on the words not the headlock, which seems far worse to me. No matter the semantics, it's a terrible thing for a father to do to their son.

@durrdevil This man choked his son for playing a Switch. The legality of unlawful assault has nothing to do with your opinion on parental discipline.

This counts as local multiplayer, right?

What is with the headline picture with the feet?

@ThatWarriorsFan kids need discipline.

@durrdevil I didn't disagree with your sentiment, I just found the remark unnecessary considering the context.

@Haruki_NLI I suppose a lawful assault would be something like a spanking, although that's still an oxymoron, since "assault" by definition is considered a crime.

@Rambler Yeah, I think the discussion should have been weather or not he should lose custody rights. Losing his job doesn't even address the problem. As long as he is fit for the job, and isn't absent because of jail time, I don't think he should be fired. He is going to need the money for a good family therapist.