Cards Against Humanity,the popular card game known for its raunchy humor and edgy cards, has been accused of perpetuating a toxic work culture by numerous employees in a new report. The report follows days of well-knownstreamers and personalities being accused of sexual assaultand abuse.
As reported by Polygon,Cards Against Humanityemployees have reported numerous issues with sexist and racist work culture in the company’s office. According to the report, as the team grew increasingly diverse, cards that may appeal to a broader audience were repeatedly shut down, with card pitches from Black writers, like “Shonda Rhimes,” being met with questions like “Would players even know who they are?” In the case of the Shonda Rhimes card, leadership also reportedly asked “is she fat?”
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Multiple employees reported being afraid of upsettingCards Against HumanityCo-Founder Max Temkin for fear of retaliation, which manifested in a variety of ways. Temkin, who stepped down on June 9 of this year, was well connected in a variety of industries —along with the other founders — leading many to fear for their futures as writers should they speak out against him. One person classified Temkin’s punishments as “long-lasting, vague, and deeply passive aggressive.” Temkin reportedly even tried to control an employee’s dating life.
Prior to January 2019,Cards Against Humanitylacked a formal HR department, but has maintained a dedicated HR contractor since then. Before that, HR duties were split between the COO and another employee. In response to Polygon’s report,Cards Against Humanityasserted that it would hire a “specialist firm to review and improve all HR, hiring, and management practices at the company.“Cards Against Humanityalso apologized for not matching the HR department’s growth with the rest of the company.
Cards Against Humanity’sresponse to the report also refuted certain allegations and admitted wrongdoing for many others. The company outlined plans to improve its workplace culture, though it still remains to be seen how quicklyCards Against Humanitywill act on those promises. In the past,Cards Against Humanitycardshave been removed for being too offensive. Employees would frequently speak out against certain cards, with mixed results.
Other companies have faced similar accusations in the past, withRiot Games taking steps to improve its studio culture after reports of a sexist workplace broke in 2018. Hopefully,Cards Against Humanitywill be able to make meaningful changes to its workplace sooner rather than later.
