PTSD Victim Sues to Hold Amazon Liable for In-Game Cyber Harassment

Andrew Haymore was the victim for seven months of in-game aggravated cyber harassment, cyberstalking and cyberbullying, including by employees of Amazon Games, alleged his Jan. 9 complaint in Sacramento County Superior Court, removed by Amazon Friday (docket 2:24-cv-00729) to U.S. District Court for Eastern California in Sacramento. Amazon Games, by creating New World, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, “facilitated random players and organized groups of players and gave them the platform and ability” to commit the acts against Haymore, said his complaint. The pro se plaintiff describes himself as a U.S. Army veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Haymore contacted Amazon Games’ chat support Aug. 23, and again Sept. 9, complaining about the in-game harassment, said the complaint. Trouble tickets were created online, but little else was done, it said. The Sacramento resident kept audio and video recordings of his interactions with Amazon and Amazon Games employees, most of whom “ignored his pleas for help,” it said. He alleges gross negligence, contending that Amazon failed in its “duty to the consumer to keep the gaming environment safe.” Amazon doesn’t waive “its respective rights to assert any defense” of Haymore's allegations, said its notice of removal. Amazon also reserves its right to compel Haymore’s claims to arbitration or to move to dismiss his action for failure to state a claim, said the notice.