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The Hits (and Lawsuits) Keep Coming for Activision
The Hits (and Lawsuits) Keep Coming for Activision
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The legal challenges against Activision Blizzard continue to mount. With the $69 billion sale to Microsoft looming, the gaming company is currently dealing with regulators considering antitrust concerns, disgruntled shareholders and lawsuits from employees who experienced sexual harassment at work.
Multiple shareholders filed lawsuits in February against the firm behind the popular “Call of Duty” games, looking to stop the Microsoft deal. They claimed it would only benefit executives like CEO Bobby Kotick, who’s set to receive a $375 million payout if the Microsoft merger closes.
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal reports that three Activision investors—billionaire David Geffen, Fox mogul Barry Diller and Prince Alexander von Furstenberg—are being investigated for insider trading. The trio made $60 million off Activision options trades just before the merger was announced.
And as troubling as the claims or corporate maleficence are, they are far less disturbing than Activision’s latest—and longest running—news peg: Since July 2021 the company’s been mired in lawsuits from regulators, past and present female employees, all alleging rampant misconduct at Activision, ranging from discrimination to sexual assault.
Today a judge approved Activision’s settlement with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $18 million to victims of harassment in the company. It also introduced new policies including mandatory sexual harassment training and mental health counseling. The EEOC also demanded the company appoint a third-party equal employment watchdog to report back on its progress.
“Our goal is to make Activision Blizzard a model for the industry, and we will continue to focus on eliminating harassment and discrimination from our workplace,” Kotick said in a statement Tuesday.
The two parties reached the settlement last September, but it was gridlocked in court waiting for a judge’s approval.
California Department of Fair Employment and Housing argued EEOC’s $18 million settlement wasn’t enough; Activision made $8.8 billion in 2021 alone. In an official challenge, DFEH claimed the settlement would limit the ability of other victims to seek financial restitution. The challenge was struck down by a district court judge who ruled in favor of the settlement today.
Some consider the EEOC settlement suspect because it requires anyone at Activision who takes the money to file their complaint with the company directly and go through Activision’s mandatory arbitration process, denying victims their day in court and leaving them potentially open to retaliation. Even though Kotick said last year the company wouldn’t force arbitration on any of its employees, the policy remains on the books. Attorney Lisa Bloom told dot.LA she is asking a judge to court-order Activision to get rid of the policy to avoid future retaliation against victims.
The DFEH told the Washington Post Tuesday that it plans to move ahead with its own lawsuit, filed last July.
“In recent weeks the DFEH defeated Activision’s request that the Court dismiss DFEH’s case,” agency spokesperson Fahizah Alim told the Post. Alim added that the case will go to trial in February 2023.
But challenges from employment agencies aside, Activision’s woes are far from over. A new round of lawsuits were filed last week, and today—as Activision was busy finishing the settlement—four women involved with the new claims held a press conference to indict the gaming company they say promotes a culture of sexual misconduct.
A current Activision employee known only by her first name, Christina, made some damning allegations against the video game publisher – including that she was passed over for a deserved promotion because she spoke out about harassment at the company.
Retaliation of this sort is illegal under California labor law, and once again the DFEH–which encouraged Christina to sue–are examining it in their own separate lawsuit.
Christina is represented by Lisa Bloom, a seasoned attorney who told dot.LA she expects more lawsuits to be filed soon. Bloom represents seven other women coming forward to sue the Santa Monica-based studio. In the press conference Tuesday, one of Bloom’s anonymous female clients likened Activision’s drinking and “frat boy” culture to a cult.
“Activision seems to be especially, outrageously bad at protecting its female employees,” Bloom told me last week.
And it doesn’t end there, as Activision must still contend with the family of Kerri Moynihan, a former employee who died by suicide after being sexually harassed at a company retreat in 2017. The family sued Activision earlier this month, claiming workplace misconduct led to her death.
With all the lawsuits and bad press, Microsoft is certainly getting more than they bargained for. — Samson Amore
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