Rocksteady Studios
Shiva Adloori
21 October 2021
Following is my experience with Rocksteady Studios, and how they helped a girl implement her strategy, with details of immoral practices by the management which go dead against the studio values, and the things that followed after my resignation which are not only immoral, but also illegal.
The individuals responsible are Siobhan Kennett, Zafer Coban, Jamie Walker, Anthony Scott, Paul Evans, and Emily Futter. While some have left Rocksteady since then, the things they’ve done, and the few who are continuing to do, are horrible.
I was going to also include Sefton Hill, but from my understanding, he only came to know about it from my email at the very late stage after I left Rocksteady. But he’s still responsible for letting go of two well qualified Lead Animators on his watch, who the studio had hired with no intention of retaining them beyond their probation period.
I’ll be going to into personal details here, but it will all make sense. So, bear with me.
Here we go….
Disclaimer : To the best of my knowledge, every possible effort has been made to make sure the dates and time mentioned below are as accurate as possible, but if there are any errors, they’re not intended. Some of the shared material has timestamp different from the description because of the timezone differences.
I joined Rocksteady on June 26th, 2017 as an Animator. From the very first week, I noticed Siobhan Kennett was interested in me. The first time I noticed it was during my second or third day, when I walked into the office. Her work desk was close to the entrance, and I have to walk past her to get to my desk. I saw her looking at me, and noticing that I caught her looking at me, she quickly hid her face behind the computer monitor. Later, I would catch her staring at me on numerous occasions. Sometimes even through the glass walls of the meeting rooms while she was in a meeting.
Rocksteady had yoga classes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and bootcamp workouts on Tuesday and Thursday. These were during lunch hours, and on my first yoga class the following week, Siobhan tried to start a conversation by making a comment on me. I ignored her and didn’t respond. Though we didn’t talk, her showing interest in me continued.
After about 3 weeks, noticing that she’s trying very hard, which I liked, I introduced myself to her after the yoga class. She introduced herself too. Next day, while I’m in the kitchen making coffee, she comes up to me, and tells me that I’m really funny. We have a fun chat for a bit, and then leave.
Now she starts testing me.
(What she doesn’t know is my knowledge in this area is vast, as male-female dynamics are of my personal interest and I’ve been studying, researching and field testing it for over a decade, and I’ve tried to use the knowledge in trying to be a better person, and to become a better man.)
She started doing things like…I’ll be chatting with another co-worker in the kitchen area, and she’d come and join in the conversation, but purposefully ignore me through out the conversation as if I’m not there, to see if I’d try to talk to her. And during the conversation, she bends over exposing her chest and trying to tease me with her body. The other co-worker was looking at me clueless as to what was happening. I show no interest in engaging with her, and I walk away leaving the co-worker and her.
After a week of similar things, she tries to talk to me, and I show no interest. And it was back to staring at me, for her.
Friday. Aug 4th, 2017. The summer team building tour happens. We go to Alton Towers. We were going to stay there for the night and return the next day after breakfast. The team splits up to check out the theme park. I go my way, and Siobhan goes her way. For some reason, for lunch, we both end up going to the same place, though with different groups. While I’m eating my lunch, she walks up, and tries to engage with me again. Seeing that she’s trying very hard, I smile and talk to her. Now, coming to know that she got my interest back in her, she quickly goes back to her group and sits besides Zafer, and starts testing me again, this time, to see if I’d get jealous. You see, jealousy doesn’t work if you’re not interested. So she made sure I was still interested before proceeding.
She tries to stick to Zafer like a glue for the rest of the day. I thought their friendship was cute, and it was no bother to me. Zafer Coban is the Animation Director, and my supervisor.
We ran into each other several times that day. At night, everyone was at the bar, and Siobhan and I start talking and flirting with each other, in front of everyone, for a long time. Our faces were just a few inches apart. This is the first time Zafer notices that Siobhan is actually interested in me, and he starts teasing me and her. He tells me I am now a “good hire”, hinting since Siobhan liked me, and tells the same to Paul Evans when he asked Zafer what he thinks of me since I was a new hire. Paul Evans was the Senior HR Manager.
Zafer goes out. And a little later Siobhan also goes out. She comes back into the bar, and while looking at me, she whispers something in Emily Futter’s ears, and both look at me. Siobhan leaves, while Emily stays. She’s supposed to be my “watch” to see if I’d miss her or start looking for her. Emily Futter was the HR assistant, and her friend who she talks about me with.
I socialise with the other employees for some more time, and when it got really late, I call it a night, and leave. Emily still being there “watching”.
Next morning. Saturday, Aug 5th, 2017. she starts testing me again, a final one, to see if I can walk away. She already got confirmation from my interaction with Zafer the day before, that I was not jealous. She starts ignoring me during the morning breakfast. She was sitting with Zafer, and no one else at their table. I look at them and laugh and continue with my breakfast. After the breakfast it was time to pack our bags and head back to London. Even while boarding the bus, both Emily and her walk past me being all serious and ignoring me. I laugh it off. Half way during the bus ride back to London, the bus stops for everyone to take a break. Me and Zafer get coffee, and Siobhan and Emily join us. The three, form a group talking among themselves cutting me off from them. I walk away, and sit by myself at a far away table and finish my coffee.
I return back to the bus. They were already in the bus. Seeing me enter, Siobhan says “Hey…”. I give her a look and go to my seat. Thinking that I was mad at them, Zafer and Emily try to cheer me up. Zafer tries to show me pictures on his phone from the night before of the fun time we had together. I didn’t know Zafer was also taking part in her testing me. I thought she was just using him without his knowledge to test me. He had no clue till the other day. But she told him now, probably when they left the bar the previous night. She had no consideration of how it would affect my professional relationship with Zafer if I’d have failed her test. I did not like that one bit, but I kept it to myself. Emily asks me if I’m ok. I say I’m feeling sleepy, and I rest. We go our own way once we reach London.
Next week, on Monday, she tries to talk to me during the Yoga class. I ignore her and mind my own business. She later comes by my desk, which she has never done before, pretending as if she was looking for something. I notice her, and turn away. She got visibly upset, almost crying. She tries talking to me few more times that week with no success, as I keep ignoring her.
That Friday, on my way back from kitchen to office floor, I see her talking to Zafer by the kitchen stairs. As I try to walk past them, she tries to block my way as she moves left and right as I try to navigate out of that. This happens while Zafer is watching. I get out eventually.
Zafer’s attitude towards me changed that day, as he was clearly not at all happy with me when I tried to ask him about something else an hour or so later after the above incident. I figured, she must’ve told him about what happened.
When I was leaving work that evening, I run into Siobhan right outside the office entrance. She looks at me while opening her car door. I too stand there instead of leaving. She comes up to me. She starts out by apologizing for her behaviour during the night at Alton Towers bar, saying that she was a little drunk that evening, and that I was staring at her. From apology, it went to accusing me of staring at her up close while she was drunk. (I have to mention here that I don’t drink, and was completely sober that night.) I see that she’s now coming up with excuses and changing the narrative since things didn’t work out as planned for her.
I stop her and tell her, “Look, I want to make it work between us!”. Realizing that I’m still interested, she quickly changes her tune. And says “I want to make this work too. Let’s go inside a meeting room and talk this through. I have 10 mins and we can work this out.” I tell her I don’t want to talk to her about this at work. It has to be somewhere outside of work. I tell her “If we do talk, it has to be completely honest. It’s either that, or we end it here and now, and we go about our lives”. She says “But that will mean we won’t have proper closure and I don’t want that”. I tell her that I knew what she was doing and why she was doing it, and that I’ve been through these things tons of times before.
Her face changes. She thought I had no idea.
We agreed to meet the following week on Wednesday to discuss the issue, as she said she’s not coming to work on Monday and Tuesday. And, before leaving, she says “I am glad we had this conversation”.
The following week, on Wednesday, when I checked with her before yoga class if she wants to meet after work that day, she said she’s meeting few colleagues from Warner Bros that day. And when I asked, how about the next day, she says she’ll let me know. She goes missing the next day though she was at work. I text her saying just “Shiva” so she has my number. She doesn’t respond. Neither do I follow up.
Meanwhile, Zafer’s attitude towards me was clearly not as it used to be. I asked him if we could talk and we did. I said, it seems like my issue with Siobhan was affecting the professional relationship between him and me. He said sorry if I felt that way, and that he was being just as he always was. I said ok. He continued to tell me that, I should know that Siobhan was his ex, but he has no idea what was going on in her life at the moment. I told him that their past relationship is not an issue for me as long as it’s not an issue for him. We agreed and moved on.
Siobhan shows up for the next yoga class on Friday. We don’t talk.
Next week, and at the end of Wednesday’s yoga class, I find out that she was going off on a vacation from the next day for a week, as she tells this to the yoga instructor while I was there. I leave the class without any reaction.
Thursday. Aug 31st, 2017. Siobhan comes back from her vacation, and there were two days left in the week, before I was taking a week off from work because I was starting on a screenwriting course. During those two days, we didn’t talk, but whenever I was in the kitchen making coffee for myself, she would show up and just hover in front of me, not talking, or taking pictures of herself, or she’d just stand in front of me, but not look. I would laugh looking at her, and she would smile trying to not crack up, but still trying her best to not look at me. It was cute.
I see that she wants me to approach her and talk to her.
Monday. Sep 11th, 2017. I come back from my week off, and I see an email Siobhan had sent out that she was leaving the studio for another job. It was sent out during my week off, and there was only a week more left now before she was leaving.
That day, after the yoga class, she keeps on staring at me with a sad face while we wrap up and leave. I did not talk to her. And when I later pass by her desk, she stands up for me to notice her.
Tuesday. As I leave for the bootcamp workout during lunch time, I saw her again staring at me from a meeting room. I decided to talk to her right after the bootcamp. And once done with bootcamp, I walked straight up to her. I asked if she has few minutes, she said yes and points to the meeting room. Paul Evans was sitting right behind her watching us. He asks her if everything is ok. She says yeah. We go into the meeting room. I ask her if she has time after work to talk this over (as we had discussed before). She says whatever I want to say has to be discussed at work. I say ok and I proceed.
I tell her that I was not going to talk to her initially since she had tried to manipulate the situation. She smiles. I continue to tell her that the only reason I’m talking to her now is because the situation now is real and that she’s leaving. I tell her I do like her and want to make it work, as I had told her earlier. She tells me she has no idea what I’m talking about, as if the discussion outside the office between us never happened. I do not react, and continued to tell her that she shouldn’t have told Zafer about her testing me. She says she was never testing me, and that we are both on different pages on this matter. I say ok, and we leave the meeting room. And as we leave, I tell her, if she changes her mind to let me know.
I went to change clothes as I was still in my workout clothes. As I change and come out, I see Siobhan talking to Paul Evans and Jamie Walker. Jamie Walker is the studio head.
I realized that she’s starting the testing process all over again, with stakes raised this time around.
Wednesday. After the yoga class, she starts to walk up straight towards me with clear eye contact. As she comes a few feet closer, I take a few steps towards her as well. Seeing that, she quickly changes her expression, and walks away in a totally different direction. All she wanted to see was if I’m still interested. And she got that information when I took steps towards her.
Thursday. Jealousy test. Zafer comes into work clean shaven, very unlike him, and also wearing a suit. Later that evening Siobhan comes up to Zafer’s desk (so I could see them?!) I do not react, and they both leave work, together, in front of everyone.
Friday. Walk away test. Zafer comes into work around lunch time. He was in the kitchen. While I come out of the yoga class, I walk into the kitchen, Zafer is standing there giving me an intimidating stare, or at least what he thought was intimidating. As I walk around the kitchen, he continues to stare at me with the look on his face. He continues his serious look towards me as I pass his desk during the day. I don’t engage and mind my own business.
Later that day, when I pass Zafer’s desk, this time, he starts smiling at me, and I look back at him and laugh. (I was smiling at him and laughing at the stupidity of the whole thing. He just didn’t know.) And again, later as I walk by, he tries to engage me in a coversation by saying “Talk to me! Talk to me!” . He’s trying to ease out the awkwardness he had created, similar to what he did previously in the bus, trying to cheer me up. I smile and go back to my desk.
Again, she couldn’t see that, by now involving Zafer in the equation even more, how she was effecting our professional relationship.
As I leave work that day, noticing that I’m leaving, Siobhan stands up at her desk as I pass by. Her hint for me. To talk to her again, since she thought I passed all her tests this time. I look at her and leave.
The Following Monday. Sep 18th, 2017. Her last day. Zafer keeps an eye on me for the whole day. Whenever I look in his direction, he would be looking at me as if he had nothing else to do. Since it was Siobhan’s last day, she wanted to see if I’d be confident, or panicking, nervous or have any jitters before I approach her before the end of the day. Zafer even followed me around during the day. I stay normal and go about my business as usual and don’t approach her at all. She had emailed everyone for goodbye drinks at the nearby bar. At the end of the day, I just went home. I did not go to the bar. My assumption is, at the bar, they probably pretended as being back together as a couple.
I decided to talk to both of them.
Wednesday. Sep 20th, 2017. As I arrive at work in the morning, I tell Zafer that I have to talk to him and that I think he already knows what’s it going to be about. He says ok. I also messaged Siobhan. The message was something like “Zafer and you make a cute couple. But you both are terrible actors and are going to win all the Razzies this year! It was nice of him to help you out, though!”
Zafer and me went into a meeting room, and I showed the message I had just sent to Siobhan. He reads it, and starts smiling. And then changes to a more neutral tone, and tells me “I wouldn’t pursue further (if he was me)”. We discuss further without any progress, and we leave.
Later that day, Siobhan replies saying thanks for the message, and asks, what exactly do I mean by “It was nice of him to help you out”? I reply back telling her “to see if I’d get jealous, and if I’d walk away”. Realizing I already knew what she was doing this time also, she denies it.
Thursday morning. I send her another message, a longer one, basically telling her that I’m being honest with her, and that my behaviour all this while is not a pretension. But, I also happen to know what she’s doing. And to act as if I don’t know what she’s doing is not something I can do. I tell her, if she can’t have her guards down, there was no point in continuing talking, and wish her best.
No reply from her that day.
Friday afternoon. I get a reply back from her. She says sorry for the late reply, and that she was out of country at the moment, and that her battery had died. She thanks me for being honest about my feelings, and that I should also care about her feelings about how she’s feeling about her feelings.
I think to myself…whoa too many feelings here. Haha.
I reply back saying I’m not in mood for arguing. She quickly replies saying “Ok. Let’s agree to draw a line under this.” I do not reply.
In about an hour or so after this, I get an email from Zafer about postponing my probation meeting which was initially scheduled for the next week. He re-scheduled it for two weeks later. And instead of one meeting, it was split into two different meetings, at different dates.
I walk up to Zafer and ask him about the postponement, and he tells me he’s going on a vacation for a week. He had decided on this vacation in the last hour (as it turns out later, he was going to Los Angeles, where Siobhan was!)
Week starting Oct 2nd, 2017.
Zafer comes back from vacation, and he starts being weird. Weird from his usual self. One day he’d be turning his face away from me when we’d walk past each other. And next day he’d be all smiling. (He was using the girls’ tricks to find out if I like him or not. If I like him, I’d be forgiving of his behavior. If not, I wont. I, obviously liked him as a person.)
First probation meeting. He was being serious and weird through out the meeting. Avoiding eye contact as much as possible.
Oct 10, 2017. Second probation meeting. This time he was super friendly and all smiling. Also, I pass the probation.
Next day. Oct 11, 2017. He posts a picture on his instagram from his LA vacation few weeks ago, with Siobhan in it.
Since Siobhan thought I was pretending not to be jealous last time, she made sure I genuinely like Zafer (so, his behavior. And, she was teaching him her tricks). And once they were sure that I liked him, posted the picture. I did not react and was my normal self.
Next morning. Oct 12, 2017. Before work, I messaged Siobhan asking, why does she like me so much (for going to these lengths). And ask her to tell Zafer not to act like her, as he was looking too cute, and I might fall in love with him. And that my mom wouldn’t like that.
I thought it was a pretty funny message. Haha.
Everything takes a turn for worse from here on.
I come to work. Paul Evans says he wants to speak to me. He tells me, Siobhan has called him this morning and has complained that I’m harassing her. And he tells me he has seen the texts. I say ok. He told me not to contact her. I tell him that I won’t. We leave. (Note that he never mentioned Zafer during this meeting, it was only about Siobhan and me)
I walk up to Zafer after the meeting with Paul, and asked if we could talk. And we do. I ask him if he and Siobhan were together. He said yes. I say that I don’t believe that is true, but I’ll take it at face value. I told him I won’t be contacting Siobhan and let’s be professional from here on, and that I would not want him behaving one way one day, and another way the next day.
Zafer continues his behaviour by being awkward with me at every chance possible. If I was in front of him, he’d look everywhere else, but not at me.
Later, Jamie Walker sends out an email about etiquette at work parties. From this point on, Jamie, Paul Evans, Anthony Scott avoid facing me or acknowledging me whenever we come across each other. I am the “harassment guy” for them. Anthony Scott was the Operations Director, and also helps with HR.
Week starting Oct 16, 2017. Noticing that Zafer’s not going to stop this behavior, I decide to apologize to him in hopes that he’d stop creating the awkwardness between us, even though I don’t mean to, one bit. I am supposed to be working with this guy. If me apologizing is going to end the awkwardness, then so be it.
Some time during the week, we were both in the kitchen, I walk up to him, and say I’m sorry. He pats me on the back and says it’s ok. And then proceeds to tell me that I should call Siobhan, and leaves. What an asshole!
(Their plan was, I either choose her and the narrative created by her, or face the forever awkwardness he was going to put me through at work, with his behavior, and with the lies that they both are in a relationship, if and when I confront them. They’re now trying to force my hand into choosing her. They’re trying to put me in a vulnerable position, so that they can get away with it! And why wouldn’t they, when he spent so much money to go to LA, just so he can post a picture to see if I get jealous!)
I make my coffee, and go back to my desk. Zafer stands near my desk talking to another animator who sits behind me. But he was actually there to see how I am going to behave now that he told me to contact Siobhan. This is just like what he did on Siobhan’s last day at Rocksteady, where he was observing me all day. I mind my own business, but whenever I turned, he’d be looking at me.
I was not going to call Siobhan. I had apologized (though I didn’t mean it), and I was just hoping for the awkwardness at work would end at this point. And it does end, for a day or two.
Friday, Oct 20, 2017. We have a team lunch, and the Animation team along with Tech Art team go to a restaurant. I see a pretty girl sitting across our table, and we were looking at each other. She was smiling and blushing a lot. Few of us decided to head back to work before everyone else finished their lunch. And before leaving, I walked up to the girl and talk to her for a bit and then I left. Zafer was there watching.
That evening, I finish work, and while leaving, I say bye to Zafer, and he doesn’t reply and had a pissed off look on his face. He was not happy. I see that things are far from done.
(When I walked up to Siobhan to talk to her in the office, it was a big deal for her, as not many would walk up to a girl in front of other people, that too at work, to express their interest in her. And now, knowing that I can actually walk up to any girl and not just her, and that it was not a big deal for me, it raises questions in her about my actual interest in her, understandably. But my interest in Siobhan when I approached her was genuine, but how would she know?)
Over the weekend, I decide that I have to put an end to this, as this was dragging on. I was going to confront Zafer again, and if it doesn’t get resolved, I was going to quit the job.
Monday, Oct 23, 2017. I come in to work, and Zafer is already at his desk. He says hi, but I don’t reply back. Instead, I gave him a serious look, and go to my desk. Few minutes later, I walk up to him and tell him that I have to talk to him. He says ok, and we head to a meeting room. I tell him that with his behavior, he’s creating a toxic situation at work, and if that doesn’t change, I’ll have to make a decision whether I continue to work there or not. I tell him that I’m not interested in Siobhan anymore, and that I’m talking to other girls. He tries to convince me that I like Siobhan, and that I had already asked her out on a date once! I never did.
(He’s trying to spin the narrative on the incident, when I had told Siobhan that, if we do talk, it has to be outside of work. To sort out the issue of involving Zafer in testing me! And I had followed up on that the next week before the yoga class)
I asked him why is he getting so involved in something between me and her. And he says “between you and her?” and then continues to accuse me of interfering in something which is personal between them, and that I was the one who was coming in between him and her. I remind him of my meeting with him the week after the Alton Towers tour where he had mentioned that Siobhan was his ex, and he has no idea of what was going on in her life. He says “I never said that”. Blatantly lying. “Wow!”, I thought. I tell him he’s losing any respect I had for him, and that I have to make a decision and end the meeting.
Zafer goes missing after the meeting, and shows up right before lunch time when the yoga class was about to start. He was wearing his coat and hat. He had gone somewhere out of office. Also, he had stopped attending the yoga classes after Siobhan had left, to strengthen their narrative most probably, as if he was he was only attending yoga classes for her. He quickly changes his clothes, and attends the yoga class. He was there to watch me to see if the morning meeting had any affect on me. I am my usual self during the yoga class.
Zafer never attended any yoga class after this, at least during my time at Rocksteady.
An hour or so after lunch, I get an email from Paul Evans from HR asking for an informal meeting. I meet up with him. He tells me, Zafer had complained that I’m bothering him by bringing up Siobhan and his relationship at work. I said ok, and don’t discuss details of what was actually happening between Zafer and me. I just told Paul that I am only looking for a professional behaviour from Zafer which hasn’t been the case recently. And, he tries to remind me that Zafer has been at the studio for more than 10 years, and I’m the new guy.
After the meeting, Paul sends me a “confidential” email. Below is the email.
(Note that, in my previous discussion with Paul, we had only discussed about me and Siobhan, and there was no mention of Zafer. He conveniently adds Zafer’s name in this email while recalling my previous discussion with him.)
Although I was planning on quitting, this was a new development. I thought, since it was officially put in an email that Zafer and Siobhan are in a relationship, instead of it just being a verbal communication, now they cannot backtrack on it. My thinking was, this should be the end of it.
The next day, Tuesday, Oct 24, 2017. Emily joins the bootcamp workout. She goes to the gym usually during lunch. She had never attended the bootcamp till now. It was clear to me that she was there again to watch me since Zafer doesn’t attend the bootcamp sessions. To see if the email from HR had any affect on me. As usual, I was my normal self.
I was wondering if they were up to something again, as I had thought the matter had escalated enough that they would end it. If Emily shows up for the next bootcamp on Thursday, it might just be my misunderstanding, and that she was actually going to be part of the bootcamp from here on.
Next day. Wednesday. Zafer doesn’t attend the yoga class.
Next day. Thursday. Emily doesn’t attend the bootcamp session either.
I was sure they were up to something. But everything was going normal from here on. Zafer was being less weird, and I was able to continue working without any issues.
Next week, Jamie Walker, who was not at work the previous week, is back. He is a regular at the yoga classes. He had literally stopped talking to me and avoided facing me ever since Siobhan had complained about me. During the yoga class, he starts laughing at my jokes, and starts being super friendly. If anything, he should have been even more pissed off at me after knowing what had happened last week, at least the official version of it. But it was the total opposite. I figured they (Zafer and Siobhan) now must’ve told him the truth.
I was happy that things were actually getting better. But it was only going to last for this week. The reason they had told Jamie, it turns out, is not because they wanted him to know the truth, but because they needed his help for what they’re going to do next.
Zafer starts accusing me of giving him a nasty look when he looked at me. I tell him that I didn’t. I told him, I just looked at him as he was in front of me, and I just continued walking. He says that I clearly gave him a nasty look. I told him that it is his perception, but that was not the case. He continues to accuse me of creating awkwardness at work. I tell him I am not, and that he was the one being normal one day and then weird the next day. He says we’re in this situation because of me discussing his and Siobhan’s relationship. I tell him I have no intention of discussing the topic, and remind him that he was the one bringing it up this time.
And then, he brings up a minor topic we had discussed during the probation meeting (October 10th, 2017), which I had passed, where he had mentioned that he wanted me to show him my work from time to time for feedback, which I had done earlier, but it was no longer happening from my end. I had told him then, that whenever I had asked him for feedback, it was because it was a new animation that I had created. Off late, I have been just polishing already existing animation, and those things are very minor for any critique or feedback. I told him, if I were to work on anything new, I will show it to him for feedback. He says ok, and then turns the topic back to accusing me of giving him the nasty look and creating awkwardness. I ask him, what is getting out of this? I tell him, “Dude, you’re creating a very toxic situation right now!”. He doesn’t listen, and continues to accuse me, trying to rile me up. I see that he’s trying to just provoke me. I compose myself, and to everything he says, I just give him the same reply “I am sorry, that’s your perception”. After his few attempts, and me replying the same thing, each time, in a calm way, he has a huge smile on his face, as if he had succeeded in something. I ask him if we’re done. He says yes, and I leave the meeting.
Later that day, seeing that I was walking to the kitchen to get my coffee, Zafer follows me around. To see again, if what happened with him earlier had any affect on me. As usual, I am my usual self.
Things were going back being weird, and I started to think if I should quit the job.
Thursday. Nov 9th, 2017. I get an email from a recruiter from a well known recruitment company offering an animator position in Krakow, Poland. Let’s call him “Bill” for now. I take a break at work, and take the call from the recruiter. He tells me the studio in Krakow is working on a Warner Bros game. He also tells me, even though I’m currently at Rocksteady which is a Warner Bros owned studio, it shouldn’t be a problem for recruitment. He later emails me more details about the job.
After work, I get home, and I think it over. I haven’t got an email from a recruiter in a very long time. Not at least since I had joined Rocksteady. The timing was very suspicious. Also, even if I was just over thinking, it felt like, if I leave now, it’d be like me letting someone have power over me, and letting them control my actions. I decided not to pursue the job, and wait for things to get better, or leave when things are a little less messier.
Next morning, Friday. I email the recruiter “Bill”, telling him that I decided to wait for a couple of months, and will message him if anything changes meanwhile.
On the weekend, Nov 11th-12th, 2017, Zafer posts a picture, on instagram, of Siobhan at the beach. It was pretty clear to me that on Monday, he’d try to see if I’d be jealous.
Monday. Nov 13th, 2017. I come in to work, and Zafer is already there. He was talking to few people. Noticing me walking in, he immediately stops talking to them, and goes out of his way to wave his hand in air and say “Hi” to me. He had never done that before. I smile and give him a head nod in acknowledgement. I was laughing to myself because of how predictable it was.
Next week. Monday. Nov 20th, 2017. First in the morning at work, Zafer sends me the following email about my work etiquette.
I walk up to him, and talk to him. I remind him that I already told him that I was not working on anything new and that I’m still going to be polishing existing animations for a quite some time in the future. If and when I get to work on anything new, I will show it to him for his feedback. He says “Ok”.
Later that day, I had a new animation request, and showed it to him for feedback. And nothing else that week.
Sometime during the week, at work, I get a phone call from a random number. I notice it. But I don’t pickup calls from unknown numbers. And also, I don’t get regular calls on my phone. While the phone continues to ring (in silent mode), I just happen to turn around, and Zafer is looking at me with his phone in his hand. I wondered if he was the one calling.
Next week, on Thursday, I got to work again on something new, and send it to him for feedback.
Next day. Friday. Dec 1st, 2017. I send him some of my work for review. He doesn’t reply.
We had a One to One meeting scheduled for on Monday next week at 10:00 am. That’s even before the core hours start.
Monday. Dec 4th, 2017. I arrive at work, but 10 mins late for the 10am meeting. I go straight to Zafer and ask if him he’s ready. He takes a deep breath as if he’s preparing for something big, and we head to a meeting room.
He again brings up the topic of showing him my work for feedback at least two times a week, apart from the already scheduled review meeting which happens every week. I ask him what’s his problem with the whole thing, as we had discussed this multiple times already. I ask him if he wants to micro-manage. He tells me this is how he works. I know of no one else in the team who shows their work to him three times a week. I ask him why is he so keen on helping Siobhan in testing me. He tells me he’s not. I ask him why was he following me then? His face goes blank. He thought I didn’t notice at all. I tell him he followed me around twice now. He doesn’t reply.
I tell him I don’t have any respect left for him. And I remind him of the company meeting which happened few weeks ago where the co-founder Sefton Hill had mentioned to the entire company that their aim is to make Rocksteady the best game studio to work for in the entire world. I then ask him if he’s measuring up to that standard as a Lead.
He then brings up an attendance record. And questions me about why I’m leaving the office early by 3-5 minutes every other day. (Note that, few weeks after I joined the studio, I had the discussion about the work timings with Anthony Scott, and he mentioned that is never taken into consideration. It is only used if and when there’s a disciplinary issue)
I tell him, I’ve had enough of this discussion. He gets up, and in a very uncharacteristic way, yells “Get out!” and opens the door. It was as if he was putting on a show for everyone outside the meeting room. I see his “acting” and start laughing. I leave the meeting room, still laughing.
Zafer goes missing again after this meeting. He comes in right before lunch. He had gone out somewhere. I was wondering if he’d show up for yoga class like he did last time. He doesn’t.
After the yoga class, Jamie Walker walks up to me, and asks me if I enjoyed the yoga class. I smile, and tell him, yeah, it was fun!
Jamie had never that before.
Later that afternoon, Zafer sends me the following email. (Note that he conveniently doesn’t mention the email I sent him for feedback on Dec 1st, 2017. He wouldn’t have a solid reason to accuse me otherwise.)
I send him the following reply.
I had already made up my mind to quit the job.
After few hours, he sends me another email inviting me to a disciplinary meeting. It was scheduled two days later on Dec 6th, 2017. He appoints himself as hearing manager for that meeting. Here’s the email and invite.
I decided that I’ll inform them of my resignation during the meeting.
Later that afternoon, Zafer, Emily, Jamie, Paul Evans, and Anthony Scott hold a meeting in the meeting room located next to the kitchen. After some time, I go into the kitchen to make myself coffee, and all five had come out of the meeting, and were discussing something between them while standing in the kitchen. All of them avoid making eye contact with me. I figured the meeting they had, must’ve been something to do with me.
An hour or so later, Zafer sends out an email to the entire company about all the upcoming new animators he has hired. He had never done that before, at least, during my time there. Everyone starts replying to that email, congratulating him. I mind my own business.
Thursday. Dec 7th, 2017. I arrive at work in the morning, and after some time, Paul Evans comes by my desk, and tells me he has to talk to me. I follow him. He first asks me, if I had already gotten a job somewhere else. I tell him that I don’t have a job yet, and that I haven’t even started searching. Then he proceeds to tell me that, after talking to Jamie, they’ve decided to put me on garden leave. I tell him, that’s fine with me. He then asks me for my email address. I ask him why does he need it when he already has my email on file. He insists on me spelling it out to him. I spell out every letter of my email. After my email, he asks for my home address, even though it is already on file. I tell him my address, spelling out every number and letter of my address.
(It is a tactic to find out if someone is nervous. Spelling letters will give away the nervous feeling. Just saying words won’t! Also, he wanted to find out if I had a job offer already before telling me about the garden leave. If I had a job offer, the garden leave aspect wouldn’t be as shocking!)
He tells me, I have to leave the office premises right after this meeting. I get my bag from my desk, and try to hand over my office key fob to Paul. Paul, while searching for a scissor at his desk and not able to find it, mentions someone must’ve stolen the scissor. I burst out laughing. It was very funny and amusing to me, that, in such a big studio, people were stealing scissors! Seeing, my attitude towards this whole thing, Paul’s expression changes, as I hand him the key fob. He was looking as if he was feeling guilty. He walks me out. We say bye to each other, and I leave.
That afternoon, I email the recruiter “Bill” who I had a chat with previously about animator job in Krakow, Poland. He replies saying the position is still open and all he needs from me is an updated resumé. I update my resume a little later, and send it to him. An hour later, he replies back saying the studio wants to interview me. That was fast. Suspiciously fast! But that didn’t matter. The interview was scheduled for next week.
(Meanwhile, at Rocksteady, the christmas party was either happening the same evening or the next day, Friday. I came to know later that, Siobhan had attended the christmas party as Zafer’s plus one. They were putting on a show for the Rocksteady employees. Zafer was actually seeing a different girl at that time.)
Next week. Tuesday. Dec 12th, 2017. After the interview, the studio in Krakow, sends me an animation test as part of the hiring process. Following this, the recuiter “Bill” sends me few files. They were the tests done by other animators for the same job. He also sends me the feedback they got from the studio for the tests. He tells me, he’s sending these files because he wants to help me out! None of the recruiters I’ve worked with, had done this before.
That evening, I try to connect with Siobhan on LinkedIn. I attach a note with the connection request. The invite disappears within few seconds. I send another similar invite. That too disappears in few seconds. I figured she’s seeing if I’d keep sending her invites in confusion. I don’t.
Next day, I get an exit survey from Rocksteady to fill out. Though I initially declined to fill it, I changed my mind as I thought I have to put my side of the story in writing to the studio. So, I fill it out. In summary, I mentioned that I though I tried to be professional through out, Zafer’s actions were creating a toxic environment, and went dead against two of the studio’s core values, which the studio also advertises on their website: Professionalism, and Treating people well.
After filling it out, I get an email from Paul Evans. He tells me Siobhan has complained that I tried to contact her on LinkedIn. I reply saying, I shouldn’t have done that, and to convey my apologies to her.
She wasn’t showing up in LinkedIn search. I figured she blocked me.
Sometime during the week, Zafer posts a picture of him with a scooter on instagram, saying he’s booked a vacation, and that “we’re starting with singapore”. Doesn’t mention the when or anything. Siobhan posts a comment on it indicating that she’s also going with him, followed by a blue heart emoji. (it’s usually used for someone who’s in friendzone)
I didn’t feel like dealing with the drama anymore. I remove Zafer from my LinkedIn. And later, he too blocks me.
Over the weekend, I finish my animation test and send it to the studio.
Monday. Dec 18th, 2017. The studio likes my test, and we schedule another interview for wednesday.
The interview goes well. The studio tells me they’ll get back to me after Christmas holidays.
That weekend, on Sunday, it was Chritmas Eve. Dec 24th, 2017. I go out to watch a movie, and seeing couples all around, I thought, what Siobhan must be feeling right now? Thinking of her sad face was bothering me, as I’ve seen her sad face before. After watching the movie, on my way back home, I message her on Facebook Messenger. It went something like this “Thinking of your sad face during Christmas Eve is bothering me. You’ve overstepped my boundaries, over and over. But, if you’re sorry for what you did, let me know, and maybe we can work this out!”
After that message, in less than an hour, Zafer posts a picture of Siobhan and him at an Ice skating venue. (I later learnt that, that picture was taken few days earlier. He had posted it only after I messaged her. This pattern is going to repeat)
New Year. Jan 2nd, 2018. I get a call from a random number. It rings for a second, and the call ends. A minute or so later, I get a call from Rocksteady office. I pick up the call. It’s Zafer. He asks me why I’ve messaged Siobhan on Facebook, and warns me about filing a police complaint if I continue.
Next day, I message her.
From now on, Siobhan starts showing up in LinkedIn search even though she has blocked me. (I don’t know how, but it’s probably a feature with LinkedIn premium). When I message her asking if she’s sorry, she’d disappear. And then appear back a week later. I’d again message her asking if she’s sorry, and she’d disappear again, only to show up few days later!
Meanwhile, the recruiter “Bill” emails me the offer from the studio in Krakow, Poland. I’d be leaving UK in first week of February.
The day after I accept the offer, I get an email from a recruiter from a different studio asking me if I’d be interested in a Lead Animator role. Though the timing of the email was very suspicious, I replied telling the recruiter that I’ve already accepted an offer.
AND, THAT’S WHEN IT HIT ME! Rocksteady was looking for a Lead Animator.
It all made sense on why Jamie, Paul and Anthony got involved. They were all seeing how I handled all the pressure in the situations they put me through! It started when Zafer kept on accusing me of giving him a nasty look, and when I composed myself and replied to him calmly the same thing over and over, he had a huge smile! And then Jamie following me around, and then their meeting together a day before my disciplinary meeting. And Zafer’s email about new hires after the disciplinary meeting. He was trying to see if I’d get jealous of the new hires, when I was leaving!
But one thing I couldn’t remember was if the email Zafer sent about the new hires had any mention of the Lead Animator. I thought it might have been mentioned. But I wasn’t sure. But the studio website still had it listed as open position.
Jan 24th, 2018. I message Siobhan to meet me at a nearby Starbucks as I’ll be there from 4-6pm. And that we can talk if she wants. She doesn’t show up, but I get a call from a random number at 6:05pm. I don’t pick up.
A day later, she again shows up on LinkedIn search. I decide to message her the next day.
Friday. Jan 26th, 2018. I message her. Instead of asking if she’s sorry, I send her something like this. “Alright, Stubborn girl! I don’t want to be stupid and lose you over a sorry since I’ve already forgiven you. So let’s put whatever happened behind us, and turn this into a win-win. Moreover, I think i’ll help with the sexual tension between us when we meet. 🙂 Let me know as I’m short on time.”
Later that evening, I get a call from a random number. Rings for a second, and call ends. Few minutes later, there’s a knock on my front door. It’s the police. They ask me if I know Siobhan Kennett. I say yes. They tell me she’s filed a complaint on me. And they are here to give me a verbal warning, and tell me not to contact her. I say ok.
As they leave, I ask them when was complaint made? They tell me, a couple of weeks ago. I ask them, then why did they show up only now instead of when the complaint was made? They tell me they didn’t find time! I say ok, and they leave.
After they leave, I check LinkedIn, and she shows up in the search.
I start to wonder if this is a real police complaint, or if it’s a staged one with an intent of testing me. Since I had said in the message to her that I don’t want to lose her over a sorry, she could be trying to see if I meant it, and this was her way of asking me to prove it.
It occurred to me, if she was testing me, she’s going to give me a hint, for me to message her. I decide not to respond to her showing up on LinkedIn search, and see what she does.
Siobhan blocks me on Facebook Messenger!
Tuesday. Jan 30th, 2018. Since I was leaving in a week, and wanted them to know, I email Zafer informing that I’m leaving UK next Wednesday.
Next week. Monday. Feb 5th, 2018. It’s two days before I leave UK. Zafer deletes the photo he posted of them together from the ice skating venue. And Siobhan deletes the comment she posted on Zafer’s “vacation booked” post.
I had a good laugh seeing that. I send them both a friend request on Facebook 🙂
Siobhan blocks me on Facebook!
Tuesday. Feb 6th, 2018. One day before I leave UK. Both Zafer and Siobhan show up on LinkedIn search. They were trying to see if I’d message them out of desperation. I don’t.
Wednedsay. Feb 7th, 2018. I leave UK, and go to India to get my Poland visa.
From here on, Anthony Scott keeps visiting my LinkedIn page. And he keeps doing it every few weeks. He would show up on my “Profile views” page for two days, and then disappear.
I get my visa, and move to Krakow, and start on my new job in March 2018.
Meanwhile, Rocksteady hired a new Lead Animator. I wondered if I was wrong in thinking what I was thinking, about everyone testing me, to make me the Lead Animator at Rocksteady. I quickly stopped thinking about it, as I was enjoying my new job and place.
I keep getting random calls once in a while, which I ignore.
Tuesday, March 27th, 2018. I get a text message saying something like “Hey Keith, looking for a cash loan?” I guessed it was from Siobhan, as I got similar texts when I was applying for jobs after I left Rocksteady. I check LinkedIn, and both Siobhan and Zafer show up on the search, though both of them still had me blocked.
I message Zafer on Facebook messenger, asking “Hey Kieth, looking for a cash loan?”. Similar to the text message I got, followed by “Just kidding! What’s up?” I get no reply.
Next morning, March 28th, 2018. I suspected these two must be upto something and must be seeing if I’m still interested. I decide to give them something different instead, just to play with them, and I message him the following.
I was laughing my ass off re-reading my message to him, and imagining them panicking.
Two days later, March 30th, 2018. I get a notification on Facebook messenger saying Zafer accepted your request.
Few hours later, I open messenger and as I am about to type him a message, he blocks me!
(He just wanted to show their interest in continuing with me, but not in an overt way where I’d have a definite proof against them! He was indeed getting better at giving hints, just like a girl would! He was being taught by Siobhan!)
I keep getting calls from random numbers. And I don’t pick up. Sometimes, I get two calls few hours apart. When I don’t even pick up those calls, I start getting two calls from the same number instead of random numbers. And when I don’t even pick up those calls, I get four calls a day!
Few weeks later. Wednesday, April 18th, 2018. I decide to message her since they’re trying so hard. I message her on WhatsApp this time. In summary, it went something like this. “Why are you guys being so stupid? I don’t know anything about you, but I like you only because you’re trying so hard, and going to these lengths to test me, and then sending me Job emails, calling me from random numbers, sending me cash loan texts, and asking recruiters to check on me…..”
She reads the message, and blocks me on WhatsApp!
(Turns out they were trying to see if I’m still interested because, they had the “vacation booked” plan to execute, and luckily for them, I messaged her just in time, a day before they were leaving for Singapore, and then Bali. I just didn’t know yet. Had I not messaged, the trip would’ve been a waste. You’ll see how…)
Two or three days later, I again get a text about “cash loan”. I check Zafer’s instagram, and he posted a picture from Bali showing just two cocktails, and tagged the cocktail drinks with his and Siobhan’s instagram handle names.
All I was thinking was, these two booked a vacation, and went all the way to Bali, only to post a picture and then message me to see if I’d get jealous!! Wow! This girl is crazy obsessed about me.
A day or two later, Zafer posts another picture on his instagram. This time, of both, him and Siobhan, standing side by side, at the beach wearing swimwear.
I just laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing!
Meanwhile, Anthony Scott still keeps visiting my LinkedIn profile from time to time.
Tuesday, April 24th, 2018. I apply for the Senior Animator role at Rocksteady to see what they’re gonna do.
Next day, I get an email from an HR person from Rocksteady telling me that my experience looks great, but my online portfolio link which I submitted was broken. She asks me to resend a working link. I send her the link, though there was no way I would’ve applied with a wrong link in first place.
I follow up few days later with the HR person, and she replies back saying “Sorry you haven’t been successful this time”. I reply back, thanking her for the update.
Tuesday. May 1st, 2018. I email Zafer saying hope he had an awesome vacation and if he’s considering hiring me back! 🙂 Haha
Thursday. May 10th, 2018. The girl Zafer was actually seeing, was in New York on a business trip. She posts a picture on her instagram with Zafer in it but with only his back facing the camera. Even though he’s tiny in the picture, you can tell it’s him. It looked like he had gone all the way to New York (after his Bali trip with Siobhan), just to please her.
I email Siobhan saying that this whole circus keeps on going forever, and that we should get married instead! 🙂
Sunday. May 13th, 2018. I get an email from London Metropolitan Police. Here’s the email.
Next day. Monday. May 14th, 2018. Zafer makes his instagram private. Siobhan makes her instagram public.
Her latest posts were of her in a bikini from Bali. Zafer was nowhere to be found in those pictures.
I email her.
She makes her instagram private. And after a day, she makes it public again.
I email her again.
She keeps her instagram public for the rest of the week, and then goes private.
I wondered if she wanted me to message her on instagram since she was supposed to block my email address after the police complaint. Her hints were indicating that she was reading my emails but she can’t acknowledge those as she wasn’t supposed to get those in first place. But I didn’t yet have an instagram account, and wasn’t keen on creating one.
From here on, I decided not to check if they’re showing up on LinkedIn search.
Meanwhile…
Monday. May 21st, 2018. I get an email from the recruiter “Bill” to check on me if all is going well with my new job. I tell him there were a few communication issues at work, but they’re being sorted, and all should hopefully be good soon.
Few days later, at the probation meeting with the studio in Krakow, things don’t go well, and we part ways. I was back to looking for work.
(For now, I won’t go into details on what exactly happened)
I update the recruiter “Bill” with the news, and send him an updated resumé.
He never got back with any jobs after.
I start working with other recruiters. Let’s call them “Lee” and”John”. “Lee” is from the same recruitment company as “Bill”. I’ve worked with him before, and he had been very shady once, telling me I got the job, and a day later offered it to someone else. This was just before my job at Rocksteady. But I decided to give him another chance. “John” is someone I had worked with for the longest time, and he had helped me with getting the job at Creative Assembly. I trusted him the most.
Also, I was getting contacted by a lot of random recuiters, and I wasn’t responding to them, as I knew they were contacting me because Rocksteady was asking them to. Some recruiters started pretending that they’re HR employees of the company they were helping with recruitment, instead of saying they’re external recruiters. It felt like they’re adjusting their strategy because I wasn’t responding to external recruiters. It was getting so annoying that I had to tell them not to contact me ever again.
Friday. June 29th, 2018. I send the following email to Zafer, Siobhan, Emily, Jamie, and Anthony. (Paul had left the studio early that year)
(I later find out that Zafer & Siobhan posted something on their social media as if they were together, after me sending the email. And this pattern continues)
Few days later. July 3rd, 2018. I get contacted by another recruiter. This was the fourth person from the same recruitment company to contact me after denying each one. This was a recruitment company whose client is Warner Bros., which owns Rocksteady.
I email the following to Zafer, Siobhan, Emily, Jamie, and Anthony.
Two days later, I get an email from the Legal team at Warner Bros., UK. Here’s the email.
I just replied saying “Thanks for letting me know!”
Random phone calls continue.
Thursday. July 12th, 2018. I send the following email to the four at Rocksteady, and I get “Mail Delivery” emails saying my emails were blocked.
I then send the same email from my hotmail account.
Later that night, almost at midnight, I get the following email from Jamie.
I send him the following reply, and I get “Mail Delivery” email saying my email was blocked.
I send out a test email to all four from my hotmail account, and see that my hotmail account was also blocked by all four.
Tuesday. July 17th, 2018. The recruiter “John” messages me about a new job.
An hour later, the recruiter “Lee” messages me about a new job.
Speaking to both felt like they really wanted to help me get those jobs. This is not their usual behaviour. It’s usually like a matter of fact. I suspected Rocksteady must’ve told them to get me a job. They were probably giving up on me.
I quickly checked the instagram accounts. Both Zafer, and Siobhan are still private. But Siobhan’s friend, let’s call her “Fair”, whose account used be private, is now public. I was certain that Siobhan had asked her to make it public.
I create an instagram account, and message Siobhan saying “Happy?!”
She blocks me on instagram. “Fair” makes her instagram private.
I also apply again for Senior Animator position at Rocksteady.
Two days later. Thursday, July 19th, 2018. “Someone from Rocksteady” visits my LinkedIn profile. I was sure it was Anthony, because he was the one who used to visit, but now since the Warner Bros. UK Legal team is aware of the issue, they were being a little careful!
I send the following email to the four at Rocksteady. The email goes through to three of them, except Zafer. Emily, Jamie, and Anthony had unblocked my email address.
Nothing happens.
Saturday. July 28th, 2018. It was the weekend, but still, the recruiter “John” emails me about a vacancy at Rebellion Developments.
I had already discussed that position with the recruiter “Lee” few weeks before, but he never got back to me with confirmation that he had applied. I decide to check with him first on Monday before replying to “John”.
Monday. July 30th, 2018. I message “Lee” on Skype, asking if had applied for the position at Rebellion. He tells me that he had already applied on my behalf. And within a minute or two of this conversation, I get a text message from random number asking if I need cash loan. I doubted if Rocksteady had asked “Lee” to keep them informed of my conversation. (Because it was me who was reaching out to the recruiter and enquiring about a position, they would definitely want to know if I was getting desperate.)
I quickly message “Lee” asking “You’re not talking to Rocksteady, right?”. He replies back saying he is working with Rocksteady, helping them for some open positions. I reply back asking him not to make any further applications on my behalf, and just work on the existing applications. After few minutes, I check the conversation again on Skype, and “Lee” had edited the message where he had confirmed that he was working with Rocksteady. He replaced it with something similar to another message he had sent later.
I message the recruiter “John” telling him that I had already applied at Rebellion through another recruiter.
Next day, it occurs to me that, based on what happened on July 17th, both “Lee” and “John” were working with Rocksteady to keep a check on me. But “Lee” had no idea that I only enquired about Rebellion position because I had to reply to “John”. He thought I enquired because I might be getting desperate.
I then tell “John” what had happened with “Lee”. I knew “John” would pass on the message to Rocksteady.
Few hours later, “John” messages me about a position, and then edits the message. A little later, during the chat, he again edits his reply. He was changing the studio names, mentioning wrong studio name, and then editing. He had never done that before, and it was funny watching him to do that. I knew then, that he had passed on the message to Rocksteady! Haha
They were trying to make it look like a normal thing, but he was giving it away.
Wednesday. Aug 1st, 2018. I send out the following email to the four at Rocksteady. The email goes through to all four. Even Zafer.
Seeing that the email has gone through fine without any “Mail Delivery” emails back, I forward the same email to Sefton Hill. Sefton Hill is the creative director at Rocksteady, and also it’s co-founder along with Jamie. I knew Sefton had no idea about what these guys were doing. And I thought it was time for him to know. I add an extra note for him in addition to the previous email.
Next day. Thursday. Aug 2nd, 2018. I start working with recruiter “Joe”. “Joe” was someone new, and had gotten in touch with me through another acquaintance.
Things start going well with “Joe”, and I get a test from a famous “Battle royale” game studio. I pass the test, and an interview is scheduled for Aug 21st, 2018.
One day before interview. Monday. Aug 20th, 2018. I get contacted by a recruiter. This recruiter was from the same recruitment company as “Joe”. Usually, only one recruiter works with a candidate from a recruitment company. I suspected Rocksteady must’ve gotten through to that recruitment company as well. But “Joe” was away that week at Gamescon in Germany, and probably couldn’t be in touch with his co-workers.
I don’t respond back to the recruiter.
Tuesday. Aug 21st, 2018. “Joe” messages me from Gamescon, and wishes me best for the interview.
The interview with “Battle Royale” game studio goes very well, and the Animation Supervisor tells me that, though there’s going to be another informal interview with an office manager, he’s looking forward to meeting me again very soon with a huge smile on his face. (It’s usually a hint that they like me and want me, but can’t say that officially yet!)
“Joe” comes back from Gamescon, and from here on, every few days, he messages me telling me he’s following up with the “Battle Royale” game studio. I could tell, he started to work with Rocksteady.
Friday. Aug 31st, 2018. “Joe” messages me asking how the other applications are progressing. I don’t reply.
Thursday. Sep 6th, 2018. “Joe” messages me telling me that he got bad news from the “Battle Royale” game studio, and tells me they said NO. He tells me he’s going to let me know once they give him any feedback about me.
I just reply saying “Thanks for the update”.
Sometime during all this, Siobhan’s friend “Faith” makes her instagram public. They probably thought, since I was not being desperate, it’s time they started giving me hints again. I decide not to message either Siobhan or Rocksteady.
Saturday. Sep 16th, 2018. I see that the Animation Supervisor from the “Battle Royale” studio was online on Skype. I decide to find out if what “Joe” said is the truth. I message him, asking if he had any feedback on why I didn’t make it through. He keeps on typing, as I get the “typing” indicator, but never actually replies. This goes on for 10-15 mins.
Thursday. Sep 20th, 2018. “Joe” messages me telling me not to contact the hiring managers directly, and any communication whatsoever, has to go via him.
I tell him, that won’t be necessary, as I don’t trust him anymore.
Few days later, Rocksteady lists “Lead Animator” as open position on its website. They had let go of the Lead Animator.
THE WHOLE PICTURE BECAME AS CLEAR AS DAY!
****
They had hired the “Lead Animator” for the studio, just like Zafer was pretending to be Siobhan’s “boyfriend”. That’s why he had sent the email about new hires after my disciplinary meeting to see if I’d get jealous.
Just like Zafer was going to move away from being her “boyfriend” when I pass Siobhan’s test, they thought of removing the “Lead Animator” once I pass their job desperation test. And they could do that easily, as the new “Lead Animator” would be under probation period.
They used the strategy girls use for dating, and applied the same thing for the “Lead Animator” position. Thanks to Siobhan!!
When Siobhan made her instagram public for a week in May, it was because she was trying to get me to message her on instagram that very week. Most probably because, Rocksteady had to make a decision on the probation of the “Lead Animator” they had hired. The probation period is 3 months, and that “Lead Animator” had started in March. So they had to decide in May if they were to let him go. If I had messaged her on instagram that week, he would’ve been let go sometime that month.
But since I didn’t message her, they had to extend the probation period, which they can extend for another 3 months.
And again in July, they had to make a decision as it was one month after the probation period had been extended. And also, on paper, they must show a valid reason. They almost gave up when Jamie sent me an email asking me to not contact, and all four at Rocksteady had blocked my email, as I was not messaging Siobhan. But when I messaged her on instagram, they could let him go. But I emailed Sefton Hill, which might have added to the delay.
Meanwhile, they worked with recruiters so that I don’t get a job else where, and to see if I’d get desperate for a job, or if I’d stay “calm in crisis” (“Calm in Crisis” is a field you’ve to fill out at Rocksteady on your self-evaluation form)
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I was feeling bad for the “Lead Animator” who was let go. Probably he had no idea that him passing the probation didn’t depend on his performance at work, but it had more to do with whether or not an ex-employee is going to message another ex-employee on instagram.
These assholes were playing with people’s livelihood, and this guy had kids!
Thursday. Oct 4th, 2018. The recruiter “John” emails me about a job. I ignore it, and a little later he messages me on Skype. I tell him that I’ve decided not to work with any recruiters for the time being. He asks me “How come?”. I reply back saying “Dude, please stop being shady. The only reason I cared to reply is because you got me a job once when I needed. Tell Rocksteady if they want something to contact me directly”
“John” went silent and did not reply to that message, and also never contacted me again.
Friday. Oct 12th, 2018. I get an email from google, notifying me of Suspicious sign-in attempt. I check the security settings, and see that it was from UK.
I changed my password.
Monday. Oct 22nd, 2018. I apply for the Lead Animator position at Rocksteady, and then send the following email to the four at Rocksteady. No “email blocked” replies. It goes through fine.
Wednesday. Oct 25th, 2018. I get an email from google notifying me of another Suspicious sign-in attempt from UK.
I had to change my password again. And, this continued multiple times later. It happened sometimes days apart, and sometimes months apart. And each time, I had to change my password. I was not into two-factor authentication.
Tuesday. Oct 30th, 2018. The recruiter “Lee” contacts me with a job. I tell him I’m not interested and ask him to remove my information from their system.
Nov 5th-9th, 2018. Sometime during that week, I get contacted by a recruiter. I reply back asking him to not to contact me again, and tell him to remove me from their contact list. He tells me there was no contact list. By this time, I was already pretty annoyed with all the stupidity and harassment I was dealing with. I tell him that if he doesn’t stop, I will be going public with their names and the whoever has asked him to contact me.
Tuesday. Nov 13th, 2018. I send out the following email to the four at Rocksteady.
This was my last email to anyone at Rocksteady.
Random calls continue. “Cash loan” text messages continue.
The recruiters also continue to contact me. Even the jobs I’ve applied by myself, I stopped responding even if they wanted interviews. I was getting better at sniffing out if the HR people were responding just because they were trying to get my information to pass it out to Rocksteady. Some HR people were even telling me that I have to do multiple interviews and submit an animation test, and if I pass that animation test, they’re going to send me another animation test! This was just unheard of, and ridiculous.
(For now, I won’t go into details)
I decide to write everything down so I could make it public, and start working on it. Right now, you are reading that document!
I had to start and stop on it multiples times, as I was getting short-term freelance jobs, and whenever I started looking for jobs, the harassment continued. I continued with writing it down.
At some point, Zafer makes his instagram public. He also deletes the picture with him and Siobhan at the beach in Bali, and also removes the tags he posted on the picture with drinks from that trip. They couldn’t continue pretending, as it was dragging on.
Few months go by.
Monday. Jun 10th, 2019. Rocksteady hires a new “Lead Animator”.
The same day, I get a rejection email from a studio, for which I had interviewed, and done a test for in February! Haha.
One month later. Monday. July 15th, 2019. Anthony Scott visits my LinkedIn profile. It was probably the first month probation meeting time for the new “Lead Animator”.
I don’t respond.
Recruiters continue to contact. Random calls also continue.
Five more months later. Thursday. Dec 12th, 2019. 6 months already for the new “Lead Animator”. Probably the probation was extended after 3 months, and now it was the end of another 3 months. A friend and co-worker from Rocksteady visits my LinkedIn profile. We had even worked together at Creative Assembly, and he had given me a great recommendation which I had added to my LinkedIn.
He had now deleted the recommendation he had given me.
I don’t respond. And after two days, he disappears from the profile visits, just like Anthony does.
Five more months later. Saturday. May 9th, 2020. One month before one year for the new “Lead Animator”. Anthony Scott visits my LinkedIn profile.
I don’t respond. But this time, he doesn’t disappear from the profile visits after 2 days, and shows up like any other profile visitors for very long time. I still don’t respond.
Three months later. Sometime mid August, 2020. Rocksteady lists “Lead Animator” as open position on its website. They had let go of the “Lead Animator”. (Her LinkedIn profile says she was at Rocksteady till Nov 2020. Probably COVID had something to do with it)
(Either they kept on extending the probation every 3 months, because they can, or probably made a temporary arrangement when I wasn’t responding. I don’t know what had exactly happened, but I do know exactly why it had happened. )
After a few days, The Guardian reports of the Sexual harassment in workplace at Rocksteady.
After this incident, for few months, things went quiet. Before the incident, they were pretty confident, as they thought they had a very clean image and could get away with harassing me. But now, they were being very careful.
Friday. Dec 25th, 2020. I get contacted by a recruiter. It had started again!
But from now, I was getting contacted by recruiters only once every few months.
Wednesday. March 31st, 2021. A studio I had interviewed for in December 2020, and done few more interviews in early February, emails me telling me that I didn’t get the job. That’s almost two months later. Haha. I had told them during my last interview with them that I already had an offer, and I’d take up in a week if I don’t hear from them, which I did. I knew they were helping Rocksteady right after my first interview with them in December, but I continued for few other reasons.
(For now, I won’t go into the details)
The same day, Siobhan’s friend “Fair” makes her instagram public.
After exactly a week. Wednesday. April 7th, 2021. “Fair” makes it private.
Monday. Sep 20th, 2021. “Fair” makes her instagram public.
Next day. A recruiter contacts me. I don’t respond.
Friday. Sep 24th, 2021. “Fair” makes her instagram private.
Recruiters are still contacting me…
I started a Private Limited Company “flippinScript” on Aug 25th, 2021, with the sole purpose of teaching the Female Dating Startegy to men.
As of today, Oct 21st, 2021, the “Lead Animator” position at Rocksteady is still open, and the last recruiter that had contacted me was on Oct 8th, 2021.