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

The state of California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. on July 20, 2021, alleging the company has "fostered a pervasive 'frat boy' workplace culture" that is "a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women." These accusations are the result of more than two years of investigation by the DFEH, which, according to the suit, "found evidence that Defendants discriminated against female employees in terms and conditions of employment, including compensation, assignment, promotion, termination, constructive discharge, and retaliation," as well as evidence, "that female employees were subject to sexual harassment." Activision claimed the lawsuit includes, "distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past."

The introduction of the DFEH suit against Activision Blizzard provides an in-depth summary not only of the grounds for the suit but of the gaming industry in general, noting, "Sexism has plagued the male-dominated industry for decades, and increasingly so in recent years," despite the fact that, "Women and girls now make up almost half of the gamers in America." The suit notes Activision Blizzard has roughly 9,500 employees, but only about 20% are women.

Related: Call Of Duty Reportedly What Almost All Activision Studios Work On Now

A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard, one of the largest companies in gaming, provided a statement to Screen Rant in response to the allegations, which included the following. The full statement can be found here.

"We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH […] 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."

This stands in contrast to the text of the suit, via Bloomberg Law, as the DFEH notes it attempted to resolve the matter prior to filing, including mandatory dispute resolution through mediation - an informal, pre-trial meeting of sorts, in which the involved parties discuss the issues and have an opportunity to settle the matter without involving the court system. The suit states, "Specifically, DFEH invited Defendants to participate in a mediation session […] on July 1, 2, and 15, 2021, but the parties were unable to resolve the administrative complaints."

The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Alleges Discrimination & Sexual Harassment

Screenshot from World of Warcraft Burning Crusade presskit

The lawsuit details alleged patterns of offering women lower compensation and less lucrative job assignments. As Activision's CEO recently received a generous executive compensation plan, the lawsuit highlights the disparity in pay between male and female employees of equal position, as well as female employees being passed over for promotion, despite providing superior results. One example states a female employee with highly rated performance reviews who "generated significantly more revenue in her marketing campaigns than her male counterpart" was denied equal pay and passed over for promotion.

Another female employee was reportedly told "they could not risk promoting her as she might get pregnant and like being a mom too much" after she assumed some of the responsibilities of a manager and asked her male supervisor about being paid fairly for that work. The lawsuit also alleges a pattern of discrimination against pregnant women, including negative evaluations of employees away on maternity leave and incidents where "female employees were kicked out of lactation rooms so employees could use the room for meetings."

Related: Activision Blizzard Hires Controversial Former Trump Admin

Labor unions have accused Activision Blizzard of failing to meet diversity requirements, and the allegations of the suit seem to support this, as it also says women of color "were particularly vulnerable targets of Defendant’s discriminatory practices." The suit cites incidents where male employees were permitted to freely play video games during work time, but a female employee of color had every break closely monitored by her supervisor. In another case, a woman of color was reportedly forced to write an essay about how she planned to use the time off she had requested, something no other employee was required to justify.

Beyond employment discrimination issues, the lawsuit alleges a toxic work environment towards Activision Blizzard’s female employees, one that permitted "numerous jokes about rape," "groping and unwanted physical touching, and other forms of harassment." The suit describes a female employee who said "random male employees" would approach her and comment on her breasts, others whose supervisors "hit on them" and made derogatory comments about rape, and a supervisor who encouraged a male subordinate to "'buy' a prostitute" to "cure his bad mood." Former senior creative director for World of Warcraft Alex Afrasaibi is specifically called out as "engaging in blatant sexual harassment with little to no repercussions."

The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit May Be Resolved Outside Of Court

Activision Call of Duty

In the Activision Blizzard statement, the spokesperson said, "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." This appears to reference a segment of the lawsuit that alleges a female employee "committed suicide while on a company trip due to a sexual relationship that she had been having with her male supervisor." The section cites allegations that male co-workers had exchanged photos of the female employee's genitals at a holiday party prior to her death, as told by another female employee.

The DFEH’s lawsuit alleges many other examples of discriminatory employee practices; drunken, abusive behavior by male employees, particularly those in management positions; and an HR department that did not properly address complaints. Instead, "complaints were not kept confidential," and complainants "experienced retaliation" that included denial of opportunities, involuntary transfers, and layoffs. The suit alleges Activision Blizzard was aware of complaints of discrimination as early as 2015, at which time the company had independent analysists review compensation data, but, "Defendants failed to take effective and reasonable steps to prevent pay discrimination as the pay disparity between male and female employees was not remedied and continued."

Related: Blizzard Allegations Spark Protest By World Of Warcraft Players In-Game

This lawsuit is still in its early days, and litigation of this nature tends to take a great deal of time to resolve. Despite the failure of pre-lawsuit mediations, it is still possible Activision Blizzard and the DFEH will resolve this matter before it ever reaches court. The filing is a civil suit - a government agency enforcing state law using civil litigation - meaning the end result could be monetary compensation, not criminal charges. Its summary of damages requested from Activision Blizzard includes, "Compensatory and punitive damages," "Unpaid wages," and "Equitable relief, including but not limited to reinstatement and/or front pay, pay adjustments, backpay, lost wages and benefits," along with other items such as attorney fees and whatever "Other relief the Court deems to be just and proper."

In Activision Blizzard’s statement, the spokesperson said, "The picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today," and provided examples of anti-discrimination efforts by the company, including "regular anti-harassment training." The issues involved in the lawsuit deal with the history of Activision Blizzard’s practices towards its employees, however, not its present-day course corrections - though Activision Blizzard said the DFEH's descriptions of Blizzard's past are, "distorted, and in many cases false." Time will tell if these issues are ever argued before a jury, or if Activision Blizzard Inc.’s defense counsel and the DFEH come to a settlement agreement before trial.

UPDATE - 7/27/2021, 1:00 PM ET Nearly 1,000 Activision Blizzard employees have signed an open letter voicing their support of the lawsuit. According to Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard employees are also planning a strike outside of Blizzard's campus to protest the company's response.

UPDATE - 7/28/21, 12:40 AM ET: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick issued a public statement regarding the allegations, published via Business Wire on July 27 at 8:45 PM ET. Kotick said, "Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf." He announced law firm WilmerHale will be conducting a review of Activision Blizzard's policies and procedures to ensure it maintains "best practices to promote a respectful and inclusive workplace," and he laid out five action items aimed at implementing "long-lasting change."

"1. Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To strengthen our capabilities in this area we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance team and the Employee Relations team.

"2. Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe spaces, moderated by third parties, for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.

"3. Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.

"4. Hiring Practices. Earlier this year I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are in fact adhering to this directive.

"5. In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is inappropriate. We are removing that content."

The final point echoes an announcement earlier the same day that World of Warcraft is removing references "that are not appropriate for [its] world." Though not confirmed, this appears to be addressing in-game references to Alex Afrasiabi, the game's former creative director who the DFEH lawsuit alleged engaged in "blatant sexual harassment with little to no repercussions."

UPDATE - 7/28/21, 12:20 PM ET: Employees at Activision Blizzard have released a response to Bobby Kotick's statement ahead of the planned July 28 walkout, detailing the "critical elements at the heart of employee concerns" that the company has still failed to address. AxiosMegan Farokhmanesh shared the organizers' message on Twitter.

UPDATE - 7/28/21, 4:40 PM ET: A Kotaku report has detailed the "Cosby Suite," a hotel room nicknamed by Blizzard employees during BlizzCon 2013 and mentioned in the DFEH lawsuit, via interviews with and social media posts by various current and former employees. For example, in a 2013 Facebook post, former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi posted a screenshot of a group chat called "BlizzCon Cosby Crew," in which former Blizzard designer David Kosak said, "I am gathering the hot chixx for the Coz." As relayed by Kotaku:

"'Bring em,' replies Afrasiabi. 'You can’t marry ALL of them Alex,' Kosak writes. 'I can, I’m middle eastern,' responds Afrasiabi. Jesse McCree, currently a lead game designer at Blizzard, then writes, 'You misspelled f[**]k.'"

Although the lawsuit says the room was nicknamed "after alleged rapist Bill Crosby [sic]," a few sources told Kotaku it was unrelated to Cosby's sexual assault allegations. One said it "was a play on the comedian’s iconic ugly sweaters, and didn’t have any sexual connotation—at least, not when the joke began." But others denied this notion, and as Kotaku pointed out, the group chat and other social posts about the Cosby Suite were overtly sexual in nature. One source told the publication, "It was such a boys club that creating something like the 'Cosby Suite' was seen as funny."

UPDATE - 7/29/21, 4:25 PM ETKotaku has reported that WilmerHale, the law firm hired by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick to conduct a review of the company's policies and procedures to ensure it maintains "best practices to promote a respectful and inclusive workplace," has a union-busting reputation. WilmerHale is the same firm "helping Amazon keep its workers from unionizing," Kotaku said, and the WilmerHale website advertises services that include "advising on union awareness and avoidance." Kotick's letter only explicitly says the law firm will be advising on those Activision Blizzard HR policies, but considering the organization among Activision Blizzard employees following the lawsuit's filing, WilmerHale's history could prove significant.

UPDATE - 8/3/21, 12:10 PM ET: Blizzard president J. Allen Brack has stepped down from the position, replaced by co-presidents Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra. In a brief message to the community, Brack said he was confident Oneal and Ybarra "will accelerate the pace of change" at the company. Although Blizzard's statement did not directly mention the allegations or lawsuit, it said the new leadership is committed to inclusivity and safety.

"Both leaders are deeply committed to all of our employees; to the work ahead to ensure Blizzard is the safest, most welcoming workplace possible for women, and people of any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or background; to upholding and reinforcing our values; and to rebuilding your trust. With their many years of industry experience and deep commitment to integrity and inclusivity, Jen and Mike will lead Blizzard with care, compassion, and a dedication to excellence. You’ll hear more from Jen and Mike soon."

UPDATE - 8/3/21, 4:50 PM ET: As reported by Bloomberg, Blizzard's senior people officer "and the unit's top HR representative," Jesse Meschuk, has also left the company.

UPDATE - 8/3/21, 8:15 PM ET: In a letter to CEO Bobby Kotick (via IGN), a coalition of Activision Blizzard employees called The ABK Workers Alliance criticized law firm WilmerHale's selection for an internal audit of Activision Blizzard's policies and practices. The letter cited concerns over WilmerHale's "pre-existing relationships with Activision Blizzard and its executives" and "history of discouraging workers’ rights and collective action," as well as that WilmerHale review leader Stephanie Avakian "specializes in protecting the wealthy and powerful." The ABK Workers Alliance also called on Kotick to "do better," saying his July 27 letter "did not meaningfully address" employees' requests.

"You ignored our call for an end to mandatory arbitration. You did not commit to adopting inclusive recruitment and hiring practices. You made no comment on pay transparency."

Additionally, speaking to Axios, four current and former Activision Blizzard employees said HR representatives "bullied, belittled, or showed skepticism after being informed of alleged harassment or assault." One former employee, Nicki Broderick, told Axios "an HR rep told her she was 'acting like a brat,' [and ...] she was told to 'suck it up' and return to her desk." An Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Axios:

"We will not tolerate anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences. If employees have any concerns about how Human Resources handled claims, we have other reporting options, including anonymous ones."

UPDATE - 8/3/21, 11:45 AM ET: Upcomer reports Activision Blizzard chief compliance officer and former U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend deactivated her Twitter after "blocking a slew of employees and tweeting out an article describing 'the problem with whistleblowing.'" This follows a reported leaked internal email from Townsend that echoed Activision Blizzard's initial PR statement, writing the lawsuit "presented a distorted and untrue picture of our company, including factually incorrect, old, and out of context stories." She also reportedly wrote, "We cannot let egregious actions of others, and a truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit, damage our culture of respect and equal opportunity for all employees."

UPDATE - 8/11/21, 7:55 PM ET: Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga is no longer working for Blizzard, the company confirmed to Kotaku today, along with lead designer Jesse McCree and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft. Kotaku reports they were "let go" from Blizzard, though an Activision Blizzard spokesperson's response to the publication said only that they "are no longer with the company."

UPDATE - 8/25/21, 10:45 AM ET: As reported by Axios, the California DFEH has expanded the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard to include temporary workers, alongside female full-time employees, among the people of whom it is suing on behalf. It also claimed Activision Blizzard has interfered with its investigation "through NDAs, requiring employees to speak with the company ahead of contacting the DFEH, and its involvement with WilmerHale," according to Axios, and the DFEH said "documents related to investigations and complaints were shredded by [Activision Blizzard] human resource personnel." An Activision Blizzard spokesperson denied this claim to Axios and said it has "complied with every proper request in support of [the DFEH's] review."

UPDATE - 9/15/2021, 12:50 PM ET: The Communications Workers of America union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Activision Blizzard, arguing that the game publisher is threatening and punishing employees for speaking up about their experiences and actively working to prevent organization efforts.

UPDATE - 9/27/2021, 9:29 PM ET: As reported by IGN, the United States Equal Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit following a three-year investigation, alleging that female employees were harassed, under-compensated compared to their male peers, and retaliated against for complaining. The lawsuit demands that Activision Blizzard compensate affected employees with back pay and damages, and demands the Blizzard "institute and carry out policies, practices, and programs to ensure equal employment opportunities, and which eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices." On the same day that the suit was filed, IGN confirmed that Activision Blizzard had reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. EEOC. As part of this settlement agreement, Activision Blizzard agreed to create an $18 million fund to compensate employees affected by discrimination and harassment.

UPDATE - 10/19/2021, 10:48 PM ET: More than 20 Activision Blizzard employees have "exited" the company "In connection with" reports of misconduct, Activision Blizzard EVP for Corporate Affairs Fran Townsend said in an open letter to employees. Townsend also said, "more than 20 individuals faced other types of disciplinary action," and the letter detailed plans to expand the company's Ethics & Compliance Team; the establishment of a new, universal ABK Ethics & Compliance Department "separate from business units and other groups like Human Resources or Employee Relations"; and increased investment in employee training.

As this letter reached the public, news broke that Activision Blizzard (via The Verge) also filed an application to put the DFEH lawsuit on hold to investigate claims of ethical misconduct from the DFEH's lawyers. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission first raised the ethical concerns against the DFEH, according to The Verge, after the DFEH objected to Activision Blizzard's $18 million settlement of the EEOC's case (discussed in the update above). According to Activision Blizzard's application, the EEOC said two of the DFEH's lawyers on the Activision Blizzard harassments case "'previously served as EEOC [REDACTED],' during which time they 'helped to direct the EEOC’s investigation' against Activision Blizzard." Activision Blizzard claims this is in violation of a California State Bar conflict of interest rule.

UPDATE 02/02/2022, 10:58 AM ET: There have been multiple updates to the Activision Blizzard story in the months since the lawsuit was first announced, and recently Microsoft announced they would be purchasing Activision Blizzard King for nearly $70 billion. The full details of the current status of Activision's lawsuits in 2022 can be found at the link below.

UPDATE 05/03/2022, 4:50 PM ET: Activision Blizzard is recommending that its shareholders vote against a proposal from New York state that the company issue an annual report about abuse, harassment, and discrimination in its workplace. Though not directly related to the DFEH suit, this proposal was approved by shareholders in February to improve transparency at the company (via Axios).

Next: 2022 Update - Activision Blizzard Lawsuits & Allegations Explained

Source: Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg (12), Axios (123), Kotaku (123), IGN (1, 2), Upcomer, The Verge