Cards Against Humanity responds to allegations of “toxic work environment”

Cards Against Humanity has issued a public statement in response to allegations of a “toxic work environment” made by former employees of the party game company, including those recently reported by Dicebreaker.

In a joint statement made by the company’s active co-founders, Cards Against Humanity said that it “immediately began an internal investigation” following the first allegations made under the #CAHisOver hashtag on Twitter on June 6th. In response to a series of questions from video game website Polygon about the allegations included as part of the statement, the company claimed that “some of these accounts are true, others are not, and a few we are continuing to investigate”.

The company said that, as of June 9th, co-founder Max Temkin had immediately stepped down and would no longer have any “active role” at Cards Against Humanity. (The company clarified that Temkin would continue to receive a share of profits from Cards Against Humanity sales: “Due to our operating agreement, he remains a one-eighth shareholder. Max is not receiving a salary.”)

In response to a question regarding allegations of “negative consequences” for employees speaking out with regards to workplace culture, including Temkin allegedly giving staff the “silent treatment” and employees being left out of decision-making meetings, Cards Against Humanity said: “A few years ago, we reduced Max’s managerial duties in response to complaints from staff, but it is now clear that we did not fully appreciate the severity of the problem. We are incredibly sorry, and we know our apologies are not enough. Max has stepped down from the company and will no longer interact with staff.”

Cards Against Humanity said that it would be “hiring a specialist firm to review and improve all HR, hiring, and management practices at the company. Our goal is to make these practices more inclusive, transparent, and equitable.” It added that it would work with an external organisation to offer “workplace training for all partners and employees of Cards Against Humanity, focusing on communication and unconscious bias at work”.

The company apologised to staff “who were unheard or disrespected in our office”: “We are truly sorry. We also want to state unequivocally that we condemn harassment of anyone who has posted stories about their experiences at Cards Against Humanity.

“We are committed to rebuilding a workplace that the partners and staff can be proud of. It is our responsibility to see this through.”