Post by Admin on Jul 3, 2020 0:49:00 GMT
www.cbr.com/dark-horse-employee-racism-abuse/
Former Dark Horse/TFAW Employee Alleges Racism, Abuse from High Level Figures
Former Dark Horse Comics employee Sean Wynn accused TFAW higher ups Jon Richardson and Andrew McIntire of racist and abusive behavior.
Former Dark Horse Comics/Things From Another World employee Sean Wynn has accused TFAW higher ups Jon Richardson (Chief Purchasing Executive) and Andrew McIntire (Vice President of Retail and General Manager) of racist and abusive behavior.
In a series of tweets, Wynn recalled his time with TFAW, which is owned by Dark Horse Publisher Mark Richardson. "Plain and simple, Jon Richardson is a bigot and a racist," Wynn writes. "From day one, I had to brush to the side snide remarks about being Black, since that was exactly what he used to identify me: he made that clear. Jokes about 'spooks' along with any stereotype he could muster about Black people is what I had to deal with on a regular basis. He never outright called me any particular name... but he definitely associated EVERYTHING that he perceived as 'Black' with me."
Although Wynn says he pushed back, he alleges Richardson continued this behavior and expressed other racist and homophobic beliefs. "It was not JUST the comments about me I had to ignore," Wynn explained. "His bigotry towards the gay community, Asians and many others knew no bounds. At one point, I could tell that he felt he could just say those things in front of me... because I was not in those marginalized groups. I let him know otherwise. Again, that does not mean that it stopped."
Even though Wynn says he eventually reported Richardson, he claims his boss faced no consequences. Further, Wynn described Richardson's "ineptitude in his own position," which resulted in Wynn shouldering extra responsibilities outside of his position.
In his recollection of McIntire, Wynn detailed "belligerent, corrupt, manipulative and just outright nasty" behavior. He recalled McIntire "yelling at me in front of customers in MY stores, admonishing me for business decisions that were outside my control, and most importantly constantly telling me that I was a shitty Manager that could not control his staff and that I was 'too friendly' with them."
"Oftentimes, he provided confusing directions, flip-flopped back and forth on ideas, stole ideas, shitted all over ideals only to use those same ideas later and, without using the actual words, told me that I was dumb," he continued. "When I began calling him out on these actions, things got worse. He got angrier. We would fight. He would say something or do something really fucked up in front of everyone; embarrassing me in front of coworkers, my staff, customers, business partners, etc. Then he would quietly apologize to me later in private; and I continued to accept it. Over and over again."
As with Richardson, Wynn says he reported McIntire to HR. However, he claims "nothing was done," and McIntire extended similar behaviors towards Wynn's staff.
Eventually, McIntire left for a position at Oni Press and invited Wynn to join him. Despite McIntire's behavior towards him, Wynn considered it because "I was tired of the bullshit and the lack of changes being made in the company [Dark Horse]," which lines up with other reports that have emerged regarding the work environment at the publisher.
"Ultimately, I want to say this. Andrew McIntire and Jon Richardson were my abusers. However, it was Dark Horse and TFAW that failed me and several others," Wynn concluded. "You sat idly by as we cried, stressed, built anxiety, were afraid to come to work, developed mental instabilities, in some cases physical ailments, and you did nothing. Reporting to HR did nothing. Reporting directly to Mike Richardson and Neil Hankerson did nothing. You let it happen and you damn near encouraged more."
Wynn's account comes a week after former Dark Horse editor Shawna Gore detailed the sexual abuse she suffered from Scott Allie, once Dark Horse Comics editor-in-chief. This eventually led Allie's frequent collaborator Mike Mignola, who created Hellboy, to sever ties with him before the publisher followed suit.