Former Employees, Community Members Allege AbleGamers Founder Fostered Abuse Behind Closed Doors

In 2004, AbleGamers was established as a nonprofit dedicated to elevating disabled voices and improving accessibility in the gaming industry. For approximately 20 years, the organization has presented talks across industry events, raised millions through annual charity events, and acted as a consistent resource for developers and players alike. Throughout its existence, video game accessibility and AbleGamers became synonymous, and reporters, developers, and the public viewed them as an integral source of advancing accessibility.

Founded by Mark Barlet, the organization worked with studios like Xbox to create the Xbox Adaptive Controller, PlayStation to create the Access Controller, and even paired with Bungie for exclusive merchandise. Aside from industry partnerships, AbleGamers purports to act as consultants with developers to teach about the implementation of accessibility options in games. While they previously provided adaptive gaming equipment to disabled individuals, they have recently dropped that initiative. As the accessibility movement grew, so too has AbleGamers’ presence and influence across the industry.

However, roughly 20 years after its founding, new reports from former employees and members of the accessibility community describe abuse, financial mismanagement from leadership, and a board that failed to protect its employees.

Advocating Under Strenuous Conditions

Mark Barlet’s mission with AbleGamers was to create a charity that celebrated disabled inclusion in gaming. According to a post on the AbleGamers website, Barlet led the organization to provide services like peer counseling for clients, a sense of community for disabled individuals, and consulting services. Yet, behind the scenes, sources recount an environment that failed to reflect mission goals.

According to the corroborated account of a former employee who wished to remain anonymous, Barlet’s behavior became concerning a few years after the employee joined the organization. Throughout their approximately 10 year employment with the charity, the source describes several instances of sexist and emotionally abusive comments directed toward them.

“He kept telling me I was HR for the charity because I’m a woman,” the source said. “At this time, I was the only woman in the charity. He then sent me to work on a literal HR case that I now know was really illegal of me because I didn’t have those credentials.”

The source claims that Barlet occasionally made light of the aforementioned HR case for several weeks, causing numerous employees to feel uncomfortable. According to the source, Barlet would periodically tell the source she was HR because she “was the woman of the group.”

The source continued to experience behaviors they believed to be aggressive, both directed at her, and others within the company, while employed throughout their 10-year period. They described incidents including overhearing racist remarks about other employees, a time when they felt they had to verbally break up a conflict between Barlet and another coworker, and witnessing a number of inappropriate comments from Barlet such as, “We need to get the most f***ed up disabled person to be on our marketing, the one with real multiple disabilities.” The source notes that in this particular instance, Barlet proceeded to make obscene gestures, mocking individuals with physical disabilities.

Barlet would also make sexually explicit remarks and comments about the source in front of others, especially during staff meetings or when working together in person.

“During an all-hands internal meeting, I was two months postpartum, and before the meeting, everyone was either in call or in the conference room physically, and he said my jugs had gotten so big that he wouldn’t know how to handle them,” the source said. “About a week later, we were walking past each other, and he went up to me with his hands outstretched hovering over my [chest] and said ‘Haha, they’re so big, I wouldn’t know how to handle them because I’m gay.’”

The source acknowledges that Barlet would show support and even befriend new employees, but as they grew within the organization, would begin harassing them. Every time Barlet was confronted because of his inappropriate mannerisms, he would immediately deflect, telling the source, as well as other employees, that he was merely joking. The source acknowledges that his behaviors with her grew increasingly hostile every time she spoke out against him.

Toxicity Outside the Charity

Barlet’s allegedly hostile and inappropriate behaviors were not relegated to AbleGamers alone. The source notes that Barlet would consistently talk down to or insult other accessibility advocates within the space. To them, it seemed that Barlet wanted AbleGamers to be the only resource of accessibility within the industry, and when others grew in presence, he would speak ill of them at best and threaten them at worst.

“Especially at [The Game Accessibility Conference], he said something about almost every speaker that came up,” the source said. “Anyone that either spoke or was an advocate, just how they are idiots. One woman that I know worked closely with Xbox Accessibility, he would tout that she only got there because of her father, and she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

An anonymous accessibility advocate corroborated Barlet’s behavior at industry events. At a business meeting discussing major initiatives, the source notes that Barlet grew increasingly irate. Every time they would discuss accessibility, Barlet would loudly interrupt by saying “Shut up, shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” The source explains Barlet then spoke over them during the entire 30-minute presentation.

Yet another accessibility advocate that wished to remain anonymous also corroborated Barlet’s behaviors. After Barlet discovered they were interested in pursuing accessibility, the source notes Barlet stated over a call, "You are a drop in the pond of accessibility. And I own the pond.”

And finally, still another accessibility advocate noted that upon discussing a collaboration, Barlet demanded the source hand over all their work, declaring AbleGamers would claim ownership. Barlet allegedly threatened to ruin the project through his "deep industry contacts" if the source refused.

Financial Mismanagement

Barlet’s negative impacts extend far beyond his interactions with his employees and fellow members of the accessibility community. As the founder and former Executive Director of AbleGamers, Barlet helped to create new initiatives and programs for the organization. Under the guise of benefiting disabled players, the charity received millions in donations from studios and players alike. Yet, new questions arise as to what the monies helped to purchase. According to another former AbleGamers employee that wished to be anonymous, Barlet’s egregious spending caused tension within the company. Allegedly, his access to funds would do little to help the mission, instead amounting to wasteful spending.

“In the fourth quarter of 2023, senior leaders at the org had been talking about [finances] for quite some time,” the source said. “We were really wanting to get a sense of how to develop our budgets as pillar leads. This came to light where a lot of the senior directors had knowledge about the finances, and that the revenues were not great, and that expenses were out of control.”

The source notes that frequently, funds were allocated for first-class tickets for certain leadership, hotel rooms before or after the dates of designated events, and even expensive meals for office staff that primarily consisted of remote employees. The source indicates that, internally, employees would regularly question the financials of the organization every time a non-essential expenditure was made. This was especially apparent when Barlet purchased a van for taking AbleGamers services on the road. According to the original source, Barlet “bought a van one day, wrapped it, and said we’re doing this. The money just sunk. The van did nothing for us.” The purchase of the vehicle was during the pandemic, and as the source explains, couldn’t be properly utilized with quarantine and work-from-home orders.

Both former employees we spoke to noted the purchase of a Tesla vehicle charger for the headquarters. According to the original source, some members of leadership directed their teams to be more frugal with their budgets, citing funding concerns. The source explains that “Mark paid to have a Tesla charger at the headquarters. None of us drove a Tesla except him.” The second source notes the independent board of AbleGamers began "combing through credit card statements or bank transfer statements within the past year. They came across the Tesla charger and expressed frustration with [Barlet] using AbleGamers' money to install a Tesla charger." The source explains that Barlet claimed to do this for the organization, but like the first source, notes that nobody within the company drove a Tesla besides Barlet.

Aside from non-essential expenditures, the second source notes that internally, there was discrepancy amongst staff regarding salaries. Leadership regularly questioned why members of the organization were being paid more than those in higher positions, especially since Barlet controlled salary amounts. According to the source, salaries appeared to target alleged favoritism, with some employees earning far more for doing far less within the company.

“A lot of the directors including senior directors did not agree that Mark should be drawing that much of a salary, that was always a point of contention," the source said. "There were people that were not directors making more than directors. There were senior directors making less than directors. There were people doing next to nothing making almost the highest amount, minus [Barlet]. There was a lack of consistency with raises here and there."

Leadership Failures

To coincide with Barlet’s financial misspending, the original source explains that AbleGamers’ board ordered the hiring of a Certified Public Accountant who was granted the role of Chief Financial Officer. For approximately two years, the source was told by leaders that the CFO “rang the alarm, saying ‘Something is terribly wrong with our finances.’” Despite his concerns and warnings, the source notes the board failed to act on them, and according to the source, the CFO left toward the end of last year, but allegedly returned to the organization (IGN reached out to the CFO via email but did not receive a reply).

Despite Barlet being the primary source of issues at AbleGamers, both former employees note that others in leadership positions, especially the nonprofit’s independent board, failed to protect employees and act within a timely manner. However, according to the original source, the lack of initiative by the charity’s leaders, specifically the board, was intentionally orchestrated by Barlet.

“He kept the board very off limits,” the source said. “He could only communicate with them. I would ask [leadership] ‘Can I talk to the board, this is getting ridiculous,’ and they said, ‘I don’t know who any of them are.’ I would say ‘You’re [top leadership], how do you not know who the board are?’”

The second source notes that things escalated in April 2024, when a former AbleGamers employee ordered an investigation to be completed through ADP, a payroll and HR service. After several weeks, the source notes that ADP allegedly advised the independent board to terminate Barlet "immediately" due to the severe nature of the allegations. Yet, according to the source, the independent board allegedly ignored the findings of ADP's investigation.

This intentional separation between employees and the board eventually came into conflict in June 2024. According to the second former employee, an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint was filed in May, with at least one other employee following suit months later with their own EEOC complaint. The complaints range from racism, ableism, sexual harassment, misogyny, and failure by certain members of leadership and the board to protect employees. Shortly after ADP’s findings, AbleGamers’ independent board began conducting their own internal investigation. However, as the second source explains, the board’s response was not only untimely, but also too slow to rectify the issues (IGN received two separate copies of EEOC complaints from former employees and can confirm their validity).

“June 15 is when I submitted a written complaint,” the source said. “On June 25, 10 days later, the board issued its first communication regarding the organization’s transition process. They did not even name that Mark was being investigated, throughout the whole [investigation]. They finally let staff know, on September 25, 2024, that the board issued communication that Mark was stepping down.”

Throughout this process, the source was instructed to speak with AbleGamers’ chosen legal team, but never the board. The source also explains that no communication was given to staff regarding instructions on what projects to pursue, who staff were meant to report to, who was in varying leadership roles, the status of varying budgets, and even the process of the investigation. For travel requests, staff were told to communicate to former Chief Operating Officer Steven Spohn but as the source notes, he “did not hold the interim executive director position by title or power.”

The first source also notes that the internal investigation was conducted by a law firm that had direct ties to AbleGamers. According to the source, AbleGamers "was under contract with the law firm, as we were going to take over the building. I had been to that building and met those lawyers before when touring. When I found out that they were the ones leading the investigation, ones that [Barlet] had a direct working relationship with, I brought that up to one of the board members, saying 'Is this actually a fair investigation?' And they reassured me, saying 'Yes, they are acting in appropriate manners.’ But, I don’t believe that.” The second source notes that the law firm were to be tenants in the building, now owned by AbleGamers, for a period of "1 to 2 years, ending in 2025 or 2026, when they would move out."

The second source also acknowledges that the board’s lack of a quick reaction was in part due to Barlet’s control of the charity. According to the source, Barlet had access to “all the social media, bank accounts, all the different logins, control over Google Workspace, giving him the power to shut off everyone’s email.” Yet, a lack of transparency is one of the biggest complaints.

Barlet’s removal from the organization was not without controversy. In a statement on his LinkedIn, Barlet states, “As I step aside, I am confident in leaving this mission in the hands of the next generation of leaders, who will carry the torch forward with passion and innovation. The future of AbleGamers is bright, and I am excited to see how they will continue to expand the vision we started.” The board never made a statement, instead instructing staff to simply point others to Barlet’s post. The source also notes that Barlet was given severance after his removal, causing conflict with employees. However, even after Barlet’s departure, the board allegedly retaliated against several employees.

According to the first source, several employees were let go from the organization in November and December 2024. The source notes that, allegedly, each employee who spoke out against Barlet’s behaviors, resulting in the investigation and subsequent removal, were later removed. “The people that were fired were all ones that filed reports or talked to lawyers.” The source also believes that they would have been fired alongside former coworkers if they did not choose to leave the organization due to personal reasons. The source acknowledges that the remaining employees at AbleGamers are staff that did not partake in the investigation (AbleGamers officials declined to comment when reached via email).

Even after the events of the investigation and subsequent rebuilding of AbleGamers, former leadership continues to create roadblocks. According to former employees, Spohn, who acted as a “mediator” between Barlet and employees during tense moments, reached out to several former employees using “manipulative language,” encouraging them not to speak with IGN for this story for fear of “ruining the charity’s reputation,” as well as his own. The employees note that Spohn continued to message multiple times, using similar language. And when reached for a comment via email and X/Twitter, Spohn declined to respond.

Barlet’s Comments

As for Barlet, he, along with the former Director of User Research at AbleGamers, Cheryl Mitchell, founded AccessForge, an accessibility consulting group. However, unlike AbleGamers, this new venture advertises services to groups and businesses ranging from transportation, faith-based, hospitality, and even gaming.

When interviewed regarding the allegations, Barlet, with respect to claims specifying workplace abuse and harassment, noted "After thoroughly being investigated by an independent third-party, it was determined that none of that was true." Barlet also claims that these allegations, and their subsequent investigation only occurred after he was allegedly advised to cut back on AbleGamers' workforce. The investigation itself was conducted internally, and Barlet was asked by the board to step down from his position. Sources note that the results, or lack thereof, required further examination, resulting in several EEOC complaints being filed. Sources also question the integrity of the internal investigation, noting that it was conducted by the legal team affiliated with Barlet and AbleGamers.

And when asked about allegedly harassing members of the disability community, Barlet stated "I have had a 20 year career, going to countless events and meeting many, many people. Not everyone liked me. I think no one can say that everyone likes them."

When questioned about funding being spent toward in-office meals, Barlet explains that of the 17 employees on AbleGamers' staff, seven reported to the office every week. This number would occasionally increase to nine when all local members reported to the office. Barlet notes that due to the location of AbleGamers' headquarters, "expensive [meals] did not exist." He explains that the offerings of the area equated to values similar to "Chipotle and Chick-fil-A." Barlet explains these meals were treated as a "perk" for employees who visited the office.

As for comments pertaining to the allegations of extended hotel stays, Barlet states that "I would plan meetings before and after events. I stayed two days after the last GDC I went to. On day one, I met with a large gaming company, who then turned around and purchased $100,000 in training contracts. The next day, I had lunch with a high-value donor, who had already donated over the course of two years, $170,000. After I met with this donor, we discussed everything, and she agreed to donate another $75,000." Barlet did not specify the years this took place, nor the donors.

And with respect to first class flight purchases, Barlet notes "AbleGamers had a codified and board approved travel policy. That travel policy stated that 'Directors and above, on flights of four hours or more, could upgrade to business class if that cost was not extravagant.'" Barlet claims he "often flew first class" because of the nature of his disability. And when pressed to provide the information, he states he was unable to share the travel policy with IGN.

However, an AbleGamers employee handbook provided to IGN by a source, specifically section 5-19, titled Business Expense Reimbursement, notes "Employees will be reimbursed for reasonable approved expenses incurred in the course of business. These expenses must be approved by the employee's Supervisor, and may include air travel, hotels, motels, meals, cab fare, rental vehicles, or gas and car mileage for personal vehicles. All expenses incurred should be submitted to the Executive Director along with the receipt in a timely manner. Employees are expected to exercise restraint and good judgment when incurring expenses." Sources familiar with the finances dispute Barlet's claim, explaining that he, along with other directors, would regularly use first-class travel for flights across the United States, often equating to thousands of dollars. And when other employees would request upgrades to flights, Barlet would allegedly mock them, brag about his travels in first class, and outright deny requests to upgrade.

With relation to employee salaries, Barlet notes that "Most of our employees were compensated based on their education, experience, and position." However, the sources refute that claim, explaining that those with bachelors in computer science, masters degrees, and even years of experience were regularly underpaid compared to those with similar titles or experience.

Other allegations, such as the purchase and installation of a Tesla charger were outright denied by Barlet. Instead, he claims the charger was a plug, not a full charger unit. Sources note independent board members familiar with the device distinctly note a charging unit, and sources explained that those familiar with finances were appalled at the overall cost for the unit and its installation.

And with claims that employees did not have access to the board, Barlet notes that all members of the board were available through Slack, a workplace chat system. However, sources note that while the internal board, consisting of Barlet, Spohn, and Mitchell, were available to communicate with, the independent board, those responsible for the investigation into Barlet's departure, were allegedly not within the company's Slack.

Throughout numerous email exchanges with IGN, as well as the interview, Barlet provided no evidence to refute the allegations, only his word. And when asked to show appropriate documentation, he repeatedly denied, insisting that he was not able to provide information unless correspondence was entirely off the record. He also failed to provide other sources to corroborate his claims, again only willing to provide the information if interviews were completed entirely off the record.

For many disabled players, AbleGamers acted as a beacon of positivity. With so little proper disability and accessibility representation in the gaming industry, an organization advertising the uplifting of disabled voices was a welcome sight. However, behind closed doors, and even within the accessibility space, leadership allegedly failed to protect employees, as well as the people they purported to champion. And particularly for the first source, Barlet’s behaviors ruined what was otherwise a dream career.

“It definitely crushed me,” the source said. “I cried a lot. I cried a lot to my family, friends, and therapist because that was my dream job. [Barlet] just burned it to the ground.”

Grant Stoner is a disabled journalist covering accessibility and the disabled perspective in video games. When not writing, he is usually screaming about Pokémon or his cat, Goomba on Twitter.