In the past couple of days, statements have been issued on social media describing incidents of unacceptable behavior that are connected to Onyx Path Publishing.
Before going into detail, and what we are going to do about them, we want to start with this simple idea that is at the forefront of our thoughts and feelings:
Women have a right to be safe and secure, and to have full participation in the cultures and communities that they create and work in.
First, yesterday a statement was made concerning Matt McElroy, Operations Manager here at Onyx Path, that includes episodes of harassment and grooming. We are taking this statement extremely seriously and have instituted the following changes as we look further into the situation:
- Matt McElroy has been suspended from his duties and role at Onyx Path Publishing as we review the information we are receiving.
- We have also informed Matt McElroy that starting as soon as possible, he must attend sensitivity training with the intention of reviewing and modifying his behavior.
- In addition, because the person who issued the statement attempted to reach out to Onyx Path months ago but their message did not reach myself or our internal developers as a group, which is a failure we apologize for, we have immediately begun interviewing external professional HR specialists to serve as point-of-contact for our company so that internal process errors can no longer be an excuse for not hearing anyone’s concerns. This HR professional will not be or have been involved in the gaming business, or connected previously to Onyx Path.
As we proceed to follow through on the implementation of these steps, we will update our community on the progress, and will make the contact info of our HR specialist readily viewable on our website.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this situation.
Second, statements concerning the behavior of Shane DeFreest, the model for the Lasombra art in the V20 core rulebook and V20 Lore of the Clans, have been brought forward to us. Due to the nature of these statements and specifically the possible negative effect of viewing that art, we have decided to remove those pieces from all of the V20 Lore of the Clans and V20 Lasombra projects and products going forward that are being sold by Onyx Path.
When we created the V20 Lore of the Clans supplement we used the Clan images from the V20 core rulebook that was published by White Wolf before Onyx Path was formed in order to maintain continuity within the game line. Shane DeFreest has never been an employee, nor freelancer for Onyx Path Publishing, and never will be.
Currently we have deactivated from sale V20 Lore of the Clans and related accessories where that artwork appears. We are in the process of replacing that artwork and expect to be able to reactivate those products in the very near future.
Again, thank you for your patience as we clarified this situation.