Activision Blizzard Sued By California For Harassment Abuse & Frat Culture

Activision Blizzard Sued By California For Harassment, Abuse, & Frat Culture

The State of California has filed a lawsuit against gaming giant Activision Blizzard for alleged sexual discrimination, retaliation, and harassment.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

Content warning: The following article contains references to rape, suicide, verbal abuse, and harassment.

The State of California has launched a lawsuit against gaming company Activision Blizzard after a two-year investigation revealed a “frat boy” culture of workplace harassment, unfair pay, and retaliation suffered by the company’s female employees. The company is the latest to take center stage in the ongoing debate about toxic masculinity in the gaming industry, one that has seen CEOs and companies alike accused of either perpetrating or ignoring instances of sexual harassment of female employees.

In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, the conversation about workplace harassment has shifted dramatically into the open, particularly in male-dominated industries. An employee survey at Ubisoft, for example, revealed that the majority of female and nonbinary employees had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment at the workplace, up to 25% of the company’s total workforce. The resulting and ongoing audit saw the departure, displacement, or dismissal of several key figures at Ubisoft, including game director Hugues Ricour, Maxime Beland, and Michel Ancel. But Ubisoft was just one of several companies who suddenly found themselves embroiled in controversy, as others followed in quick succession, including Riot and Rocksteady.

Activision Blizzard is now facing similar controversy after a two-year investigation by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, reportedly uncovered a pervasive “frat boy” culture at the company, ranging from rape jokes and inappropriate behavior to withheld promotions, wage disparity, and derogatory behavior towards working mothers, including negative remarks and kicking lactating mothers out of designated lactation rooms so male employees could use them for meetings. The suit also draws attention to an unnamed female employee who died by suicide on a company trip after enduring excessive sexual harassment and nude pictures of her circulating the office at a company holiday party. The State of California, in light of this investigation, is now suing Activision Blizzard for discrimination based on sex, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, and unequal pay, according to Bloomberg Law. A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard has responded to Screen Rant’s request for comment, stating:

See also  90 Day Fiancé Annie Gushes Over David’s Major Weight Loss

We value diversity and strive to foster a workplace that offers inclusivity for everyone. There is no place in our company or industry, or any industry, for sexual misconduct or harassment of any kind. We take every allegation seriously and investigate all claims. In cases related to misconduct, action was taken to address the issue.

The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past. We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and ample documentation, but they refused to inform us what issues they perceived. They were required by law to adequately investigate and to have good faith discussions with us to better understand and to resolve any claims or concerns before going to litigation, but they failed to do so. Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint, as we will demonstrate in court. We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family. While we find this behavior to be disgraceful and unprofessional, it is unfortunately an example of how they have conducted themselves throughout the course of their investigation. It is this type of irresponsible behavior from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State’s best businesses out of California.

The picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today. Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we’ve made significant changes to address company culture and reflect more diversity within our leadership teams. We’ve amplified internal programs and channels for employees to report violations, including the “ASK List” with a confidential integrity hotline, and introduced an Employee Relations team dedicated to investigating employee concerns. We have strengthened our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and combined our Employee Networks at a global level, to provide additional support. Employees must also undergo regular anti-harassment training and have done so for many years.

See also  All The Ways Marvel Has Changed Black Knight Ahead Of His MCU Debut

We put tremendous effort in creating fair and rewarding compensation packages and policies that reflect our culture and business, and we strive to pay all employees fairly for equal or substantially similar work. We take a variety of proactive steps to ensure that pay is driven by non-discriminatory factors. For example, we reward and compensate employees based on their performance, and we conduct extensive anti-discrimination trainings including for those who are part of the compensation process.

We are confident in our ability to demonstrate our practices as an equal opportunity employer that fosters a supportive, diverse, and inclusive workplace for our people, and we are committed to continuing this effort in the years to come. It is a shame that the DFEH did not want to engage with us on what they thought they were seeing in their investigation.

For women in the gaming industry, the allegations are hardly surprising, but unfortunately the response is also all too familiar. However, history has shown that if the public blowback for these accusations is severe enough even the most toxic companies aren’t immune to the repercussions, which is hopefully a much needed signal that change is finally happening.

There is little question over whether or not sexual harassment is a problem in the industry, and that real, comprehensive change is needed in order to address it. But it takes a lot more than a DFEH investigation to make those changes. Victims of this sort of harassment have been silenced for years out of fear of retaliation and loss of their livelihood. But if the accusations against Activision Blizzard are true, and if the company is appropriately penalized for its role in this pervasive workplace culture, it’ll be a major sign that the rest of the world is finally paying attention.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/activision-blizzard-sued-california-harassment-abuse/

Reviews -