Tommy steps down from Nitro Pinball

What does related family have to do with anything? I don't see how it's their fault or why they should be punished for something they didn't do?

I'm encouraged that most people here see the behavior from Tommy as unacceptable, point blank. I've put a few who've shown their true colors with excusing it on ignore to help ensure I don't accidentally do business with them in the future. And that's everyone's own personal right, you can decide to not to business with Nitro if you're concerned Tommy will benefit from it.

But short of Erin pressing charges (no one else's call but hers imo), and Tommy stepping down, I don't see how baying for blood helps anything.

Tommy fucked up, big time, and he's seeing consequences from it. Isn't that what we want? Do we really have to salt the earth too? "Put his family into the street!" seems a bit much to me.

Thank you Robin. I know it's fun to joust and argue about our hobby, but I don't understand why people take it so far. Physical threats (from behind a keyboard no less) are ridiculous.

Yeah...lets make it all about the abuser and his arc.

Nothing changes if we don't hold every man accountable for his perverted actions.

And with enablers like Pinbum, we aren't there, yet.

Tommy's drunken assaults and his subsequent sober actions tell you that it isn't just the alcohol, it's who he is.

Tommy is persona non grata at the show and the Nitro prize machine is being rejected in favor of a non-Nitro-sponsored cash prize. Not sure on the long term yet, I'd guess it depends on who's associated with the business in the future.

Dan O'Halligan It has come to our attention that last night at a local Tacoma bar the owner of Nitro Pinball, one of our sponsors, behaved in a way that was not appropriate or acceptable towards women. His actions are unacceptable not just in the pinball and arcade community, but everywhere.

As a sponsor, Nitro Pinball had provided the NW Women’s Championship grand prize, a new pinball machine. The NW Pinball and Arcade Show board has voted to provide a cash option equal to the value of the grand prize pinball machine for the winner, funded by the show.

The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show is a non-profit event, it’s tournaments and the entire show are put on by hundreds of volunteers, who spend tens of thousands of hours to make the show happen. We encourage you to enjoy the show and reap the benefits of all the hard work that has occurred in the past year to make this event happen.

Here's a thought...

Let's start a gofundme page to raise money for a local women's charity of Erin's choosing.

I'll be the first to donate $50.

It would be nice to see Nitro Pinball be the second.

What do we think? Make some lemonade from this debacle?

Most charities are scams - I say if you’re starting a fundraiser, give the $$$ directly to Erin and let her do with it what she wishes.

I disagree with this approach. Having nothing to do with this specific situation, this can have unintended consequences.

The best approach if anyone wants to move this forward is to utilize a guidestar report before selecting a charity.

https://www.guidestar.org/

Erin, if you are reading this, I'm sorry this happened to you. It is a well known fact that this is a male-dominated hobby but it shouldn't be that way. Tommy's predatory behavior and actions are disgusting. It is a huge setback in making women feel safe and comfortable in this hobby. Which is extremely unfortunate and disheartening.

I choose not to go directly to the worst case scenario. I'm sure Erin or someone in her circle know a few.

Can we put you down for $10?

To a charity directly? No.

GoFundMe for Erin? Yeah, sure.

Suzanne made the right move here I think. It's unreasonable to expect them to close their doors, and they have hundreds (thousands?) of customers who still need service.

Tommy has been the face of this company forever, and the smartest thing for him to do is a disappear for a good while and let others run the show. People are always willing to give people second chances, hopefully this move helps set Tommy up for redemption sometime down the road.

How about a gofundme for the show? They are the ones that stepped up and are now out the cost of a NIB.

You do the right thing because it's the right thing.

The good folks at the show knew that and were quick to act.

Great job on their part.

If you want to give a person a statement then lock do that for the victim not the family of the perpetrator

At least on the upside, I'm going to be seeing a lot less posts on Pinside in general after seeing these two threads. Double thanks to Robin on that for not immediately shuttering them AND implementing the block/ignore features...jesus, what a mess and JAY-SUS CHRIST the things people say that reveal who they really are behind the keyboard... o_O

pinlink

What do you call it when someone grabs you hard enough their nails cut into your skin? Would you tolerate that from a random in a bar?

Abstracted from anything else going on, the man definitely physically assaulted a woman that night.

if you are getting several of these messages.... maybe you need to become, "not so Crazy Levi!"

Yeah it's definitely my fault that people who regularly whine about "delicate snowflakes" and the plague of "beta males" can't read a post on Pinside they disagree with without shooting out childish threatening messages via PM.

Wow. Even with witnesses and an admission of guilt it is still the victims fault? Funny how victims are reluctant to come forward. Only in 'Murica

nitro took a most predictable and safe solution by requiring tommy to step down as president. but, by allowing his family to maintain control, its kinda like a baseball manager being ejected but still managing the rest of the game from the teams luxury box.
ejection01 (resized).jpg

But the mods always say, "Take it to PM".

I'm sorry that Erin and Suzanne are having to go through this. Although I don't know him; Tommy always struck me as a nice guy at shows. Hope he gets the help that he needs.

Totally agree Levi. Sending threats over PMs is absolutely ridiculous. This is a forum about freaking Pinball people. There are going to be different opinions. Hell Levi and I have disagreed a lot in the past but that's his opinion and we say our peace and move on. Taking it to a PM to threaten has to be one of the most embarrassing moves one can make. Anyone defending that is also insane.

im really sorry to hear this and hope things will turn around for her and the family's sake.

What the hell is wrong with you?
You would be happy to see his whole family suffer!

Mr Bkerins,

I am unsure of your motivation behind constantly calling people out and rehashing events and personal messages,

I think it is VERY important here to please remember to judge ONLY the ACTIONS of a person and NOT the PERSON themselves.

Tommy made a MISTAKE, but to judge him as a person is just plain wrong. Leave that up to HIMSELF.

Do not criticize the splinter in his eye when you have a log in your own. Unless of course you are perfect, which obviously you are not as you wouldn't post such things.

I used to enjoy watching your educational videos on various machines, you have done a lot of good for the community. Now I just see your actions as just plain ignorant, which is a real shame man

Maybe while Tommy is working on his own personal issues, you can take this time to work on your own.

Don’t you dare talk to our Bowen like that.

I hope you're just making a point and you already knew this.

The internet rage is so completely out of control. People really need to take a breath, this whole ruin his life and business, his family should suffer, is just nuts. I don't understand how people can just roll around with some much hate.

I would expect at any company for them to have a zero tolerance policy for this. His actions happened during business travel representing the company at a show. I would expect immediate termination. No second chances. No chance to redeem himself.

It's not "hate", it's called accountability. The man should be held to account, and it's not really that weird (nor is it "rage"), to think the man's business should suffer as well.

I think intent matters here. I know I should not post anything on this because people will skew it and twist what I am trying to say.
First thing I was not there and I don't pretend to know details so this is just my thoughts and I do not present them as facts.

1.) I'm pretty sure Tommy has been the main sponsor for the women's tournament for a couple of years. When he propositioned her for sex, I can see how it was not an actual proposition. I can see how he intended it as a joke. I can also completely understand how from her perspective she was completely justified feeling it was a proposition for sex. You need to have prior knowledge to understand his attempt at a joke.
2.) Alcohol affects your judgement and perception. I can understand that at the time Tommy read the situation as funny and flirty. I can also fully accept her perspective as it being very scary and him being completely out of line. A friend told me once going on a date as a women would be like a man being alone with 500lbs gorilla and you hope the gorilla is nice. It's insane and women have to put up with that shit everyday. So again I completely understand both side of this situation.
3.) Tommy should never have touched her, there is no justification it was wrong. It seems everything just spiraled out of control from there. Men are driven by ego and pride fucks with us. I know I have handled embarrassing situations badly. I'm not in any way saying how he acted is acceptable. I can understand that the light went on in his head and he realized how wrong and bad this had gone and it just went from bad to worse. He has to deal with that and he looks like he understand that and is genuinely remorseful.

Tommy is 100% in the wrong, he drank to much and created a horrible experience for a women. I'm not excusing this in anyway.

I don't know him well but I have met him and this does seem very out of character, so I do not think he intended for this situation to go the way it did. I do not feel he had any intention to assault this person.

I completely understand and accept that she is 100% justified in feeling assaulted.

I have no idea what kind of punishment fits this type of situation. I hope things will settle down and hopefully both parties can understand the other and they can get past this. I don't understand what destroying his business and family does to help the situation.

i agree with @wisefwumyogwave and @pinlink, there are different levels of egregiousness to most everything.

example: being intoxicated while streaming an employers latest release may not reflect well for the company, but it isnt as serious as DUI manslaughter.

example: kaneda at NYCC womens final 2018 is not as bad as this:

tis but a scratch.

scratch02.jpg

"Feeling assaulted"? She WAS assaulted.

Is taking a single word out of my entire post helpful in any way? My whole point was context and intent are important.

A tribal and primitive action shouldn't be met with a tribal and primitive response. We should be better than that.

People should just tone it down a notch and reflect before posting.

Ok, let me clear some things up real quick.

First off, I absolutely in no way condone his behavior. In every way completely and totally inappropriate.

Two, the original thread blew up to the point Robin himself came in and shut that shit down.

So, now we have the business responding, and there's bound to be a schism on this matter.

So, why was my original statement so unbearable? Is there some hidden connotation I am unaware of? We all know this is a very passion subject, and theres bound to be some very strong opinions. What did I say that is so out of line?

Looking for constructive insight.

At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.

I become an absolute monster after 1 too many...literally

I turn our home into a PG-13 horror movie complete with jump scares ...walk into the bathroom...Raaa! I pop out of the shower...off to the pantry for a bedtime snak...Raaaa! Gotcha again

The only person that is "dumb" is the one who "listens" to things that he reads - Tsao Lo

I am very sorry that my opinion didn't mend with your preconceived perceptions. It is not really your concern anyway as my message was addressing somebody else, it was meant for Bowen.

Just letting him know that he has let some fans down, and rather than trying to teach life lessons he should stick to pinball lessons.

It was a personal assault, pure and simple.
Spinning the incident into something less than this is dismissing the behavior.

Can't imagine what I would have done if I had witnessed this happening to my wife or daughter.

Having read the posts on Erin's FB page, Tommy's behavior has been witnessed in the past and continues(d?) to this day.
Continuation of lecherous behavior seems to be based on whether you are caught/called out. If not, maybe a bolder move will be made.

Hard to imagine that if Tommy's behavior went on for so long as many FB posts indicates, that everyone in the company would be unaware of it.

Kudos to Erin.

Not good!

You posted in public, therefore it's the 'concern' of anyone who reads it, man. I'm not sure he's going to grieve the loss of you as a fan, but what do I know...maybe someone who's been willing to stick to his guns on hard fights of ethics before is SUDDENLY GOING TO CHANGE and care about the ramblings of an anon troll giving him the business....

or not.

The woman is a victim!

Tommy should have charges pushed against him!

A little time in the clink would do him some good.

I think it is VERY important here to please remember to judge ONLY the ACTIONS of a person and NOT the PERSON themselves.

THE ZODIAC KILLER made a few MISTAKES, but to judge him as a person is just plain wrong. Leave that up to HIMSELF.

Do not criticize the splinter in his eye when you have a log in your own. Unless of course you are perfect, which obviously you are not as you wouldn't post such things.

Maybe while THE ZODIAC KILLER is working on his own personal issues, you can take this time to work on your own.

Curious to see what the real fallout will be from this for Tommy and Nitro. I mean aside from Tommy not attending shows for a while and ordering new business cards without the word 'president' beside his name.

Nothing will happen, they will lose a few customers for awhile until they have something everybody wants.

I agree with this statement,

It is even more important to remember this ESPECIALLY in people who suffer from various psychosis, chemical brain imbalances, traumas, etc...

It is very easy for people such as yourself, with sound mind (presumably), to judge and chastise others. You obviously cant see anything outside of your own spectrum. Having said that, at least be open to the possibility that other people think differently than you.

Thankfully, due in large part to the fields of psychology and neuropsychology it is well known that individuals such as the zodiac killer lacked the capabilities of empathy. So what benefit would be derived from judging him?

Either way, I can see that my opinions aren't really appreciated in this thread. The only thing we have in common is the love of pinball. I want to at least toast to that and be grateful that we can all share this incredible hobby whether we agree or disagree.

Suzanne, thank you for supporting us and I look forward to the next machine!

What do they have that nobody else has?

If they are the only guys in Canada you may have a point.

Better prices