Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Activision-Blizzard

Warning: The following article may contain some content readers may find upsetting. Throughout this piece, there will be mention of accusations of sexual harassment, corporate protection of harassers, and suicide. Reader’s discretion is advised.

If you’ve gone this far into the past year without hearing of Activision-Blizzard’s ongoing legal troubles due to corporate protected sexual harassment, the fallout from the legal proceedings that unveiled all of this, and ugly details of the “frat boy culture,” where have you been? Despite Microsoft’s active intentions for the wholesale purchase of Activision-Blizzard|King, the legal battles go on. According to the Washington Post, one more has emerged following California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing revealing some of what happened.

A court document obtained by the Washington Post detailed the wrongful death lawsuit by the family of Kerri Moynihan, a 32-year-old finance manager for Activision-Blizzard at the time of her death in 2017. She was not mentioned by name in the original lawsuit by the DFEH, though her suicide on the company retreat to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa was notable in the lawsuit as one of her male supervisors (also unnamed) brought sex toys to the retreat and was said to be in an active relationship with Moynihan. This was one of the more disturbing portions of the DFEH lawsuit, which was already horrifying in its own right.

The wrongful death lawsuit brought against Activision-Blizzard by Moynihan’s family, Paul and Janet Moynihan, goes on to state that their daughter was in an active relationship with her boss, Greg Restituito. The claim from the Moynihan family is that Restituito lied initially to the Anaheim Police Department, which was investigating the death of their daughter at the time. It is alleged that he lied by concealing that he had a relationship with Moynihan. Further claims by the family note that Restituito had seemingly attempted to suppress any evidence of the relationship following Moynihan’s death. As reported by the Post, Restituito’s LinkedIn profile notes his departure from Activision-Blizzard as of May 2017, a month after Moynihan’s death.

The claims of the lawsuit go a bit further, as according to the lawsuit provided to the Post by Jeffrey Isaacs and Adam Kargman (the Moynihan Family lawyers), Activision-Blizzard refused to provide police with Moynihan’s company-issued laptop. Additionally, her phone had been “wiped,” and Activision-Blizzard further refused access to Restituito’s company laptop or phone. The lawsuit also goes on to state that sexual harassment, of which Moynihan was a victim as male colleagues shared a picture of her vagina at a Christmas party, was a “significant factor.” Of course, Anaheim Police Department has refused to comment on its investigation, as has Restituito when the Post attempted to contact him.

When the Post attempted to contact Activision-Blizzard, a spokesperson refused to comment directly on the lawsuit by the Moynihan family. However, they did go on to say that the company is “deeply saddened by the tragic death of Ms. Moynihan, who was a valued member of the company. We will address the complaint through the legal process as appropriate, and out of respect for the family[,] we have no further comment at this time.” This is one of many legal proceedings Activision-Blizzard|King finds itself in, beyond legal pressure over the Microsoft deal, federal cases, sponsors cutting ties, and investors calling the aggressive initial response “inadequate.”