Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has expanded its ongoing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, adding in new developments regarding the publisher allegedly interfering with the state's two year investigation. The gaming industry was rocked by the allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination within Activision Blizzard, as well as claims that the company did little to stop this mistreatment over several years, when the lawsuit was filed in July.
In the month since the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s lawsuit, high-ranking members of Activision Blizzard, such as longtime Blizzard head J. Allen Brack, have either been fired or resigned. References to employees named in the lawsuit are being removed from games like World Of Warcraft and Overwatch, and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has agreed to an outside audit of Activision Blizzard's alleged misconduct. However, new developments from the State of California suggest that Activision Blizzard was not as forthcoming in regards to its investigation as Kotick's words imply.
As reported by Axios, the State of California announced that it would be expanding its lawsuit against Activision Blizzard on Monday to include the company’s treatment of temporary workers. According to this new amendment, the state’s Department of Fair Employment & Housing also claims that Activision Blizzard tried to hinder the State Of California's two-year investigation by requiring employees to speak to executives before contacting the DFEH, and that various documents related to the complaints and investigation were shredded by Activision Blizzard’s Human Resources department. In an update from Eurogamer, a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard has since denied these new allegations, stating that the company has “complied with every proper request in support of its review even as we had been implementing reforms to ensure our workplaces are welcoming and safe for every employee.”
So far, Activision Blizzard has faced considerable backlash from inside and outside the gaming industry since the allegations of sexual misconduct first came to light. Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout last month with the support of consumers and fellow developers, World Of Warcraft players organized an in-game protest in solidarity with the victims of the reported abuse, and corporate sponsors like T-Mobile have pulled their support for Activision Blizzard’s Call Of Duty and Overwatch esports events.
Reaction to the initial lawsuit has been strong, and this recent allegation of Activision destroying vital documentation in the face of an investigation and ongoing lawsuit will probably not help its case as public and legal pressure builds. The legal action against Activision Blizzard is still ongoing, so further developments will likely unfold in the coming months.