Activision Blizzard is facing yet another case of sexual harassment litigation, alongside discrimination accusations. The new lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by attorney Lisa Bloom, on behalf of her client referred to as “Jane Doe”.
In a report from Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard is facing over 700 reported incidents of sexual harassment, discrimination, and sexism, all under the current CEO, Bobby Kotick, due to the “rampant ‘frat boy’ mentality”.
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The claimant, who is referred to as “Jane Doe”, first joined the company in 2017 as a senior administrative assistant in the IT department, states that she has since been pressured to participate in uncomfortable and smutty games, as well as alcohol consumption. Doe also claims that female employees were often the target of sexual comments and fondling by male colleagues, in the midst of alcohol-induced “crawls” in the office.
Doe further stated that when these issues were raised with management, complaining of excessive drinking, sexual misconduct, and inappropriate groping, it was dismissed as “leadership being nice and trying to be friends with her”. Furthermore, she was urged to keep her frustrations to herself, as vocalistion could lead to further reputational damage to the company.
Doe states that she was denied a position for an executive assistant in another department in November 2021, because she had openly spoken out about her vulgar experience at the company, and had failed multiple attempts to transition into a new department within the company.
Doe is seeking multiple actions in the lawsuit, including the firing of Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, as well as a more fit HR department, in an attempt to battle the conflict of interest when raising issues.
Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard in the biggest deal the gaming industry has seen, purchasing it at $68.7 billion, where Kotick is expected to leave soon after.
Please contact any of the relevant helplines, which you can view here at the Sonke Gender Justice contacts, if you feel you are being subjected to similar practices.
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Source: Bloomberg
