Activision-Blizzard Settle Federal Case

I will attempt to spare the entire history of Activision-Blizzard in their recent legal troubles with not only state officials in California and more recently, federal cases. The latter seems to be pilling up. As of Monday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed its complaint against Activision-Blizzard following a two-year investigation. The EEOC alleges that the company has been a hive of sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and other forms of retaliation against employees.

It was following the publishing of our previous article on Activision-Blizzard’s troubles with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that news came to light of the EEOC also filing its complaint. Well, according to court documents (Thanks to The Verge) filed on Monday, the EEOC has been looking into the company since September of 2018. As noted in the court filings, the commission’s complaint alleges, “Some employees complained about the sexual harassment… but [Activision-Blizzard] failed to take corrective and preventative measures.” The court filing also notes that “Once [Activision-Blizzard] knew or should have known of the sexual harassment[, Activision-Blizzard] failed to take prompt and effective remedial action[…].”

Following this filing on Monday, Activision-Blizzard had a rather swift response to the complaint and request for a jury trial. I’ll allow myself the snide remark: Where was this response back in July with the DFEH? In a press release published on the Activision investor site, the company notes that it has reached an agreement to settle the case. “Activision-Blizzard today confirmed that, as part of its effort to have the most welcoming ([and] inclusive workplace), it has reached an agreement with the US EEOC to settle claims and to further strengthen policies and programs to prevent harassment and descrimination[…].“

The company states that it is committed to creating an $18-million fund, in which to “compensate and make amends with eligible claimants.” Furthermore, “Any amount not used for claimants will be divided between charities that advance women in the industry or promote awareness around harassment and gender equality issues […] as approved by the EEOC.” The company also mentioned in the press release a plan to develop tools and training programs “to improve workplace policies and practices for employers across the technology industry.“

It is a rather swift set of actions put in place by the same company that, for quite some time not long ago when the DFEH filed its litigation against the company, kept tight lips outside of internal emails. Speculation would suggest that the company would prefer to settle a federal case than go through it. Assuming that speculation is of any validity, one could suggest that lawyers working with Activision-Blizzard could see a much larger payout being demanded by courts. Once again, CEO Bobby Kotick made a statement similar to those previously made, noting progress is being made and will continue. This comes after the SEC complaint led to Kotick and others being subpoenaed.