Activision Blizzard sues women: Sexually harassed and discriminated against women
Activision Blizzard sues women
The state of California has brought charges against Activision Blizzard. The company is accused of actively cultivating abuse, sexism, discrimination based on gender and skin color and bullying in the workplace and of tolerating grossly unprofessional behavior.Above all, higher-ranking employees with personnel responsibility are accused in the Scriptures of their duties being neglected and engaging in the culture of abuse. Fundamental injustices such as lower pay and appreciation of female employees, discrimination against pregnant and non-white women and lower opportunities for advancement based on gender are also part of the allegations, as are specific cases of inhuman behavior towards female employees.
Some high-ranking employees become also mentioned by name. The statements in the document are based on a two-year investigation by the state labor protection agency Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Discrimination as a leitmotif
In general, it is normal for Activision Blizzard for male employees to hangover appear for work and therefore hand over their tasks to colleagues. Instead of getting involved in day-to-day business, the men would then play video games. The women concerned would have no chance to defend themselves against it, as their superiors would behave in the same way and encourage the male employees to do so.In addition, employees are notorious for holding so-called "cube crawls", during which alcohol is consumed excessively in the offices. Numerous women are believed to have been sexually molested during these crawls. Despite this behavior, according to the prosecution, men are preferred in terms of promotions and salaries. The document lists several cases in which more qualified women have been denied leadership positions because of their gender, which have then been given to men.
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The Rocksteady employees made a statement about the harassment allegations that surfaced on Wednesday. var lstExcludedArticleTicker = '1376372,1374448,1376171,1371777,1355540,1356551'; Constant inappropriate contact, jokes about rape and loud descriptions of sexual experiences by the male workforce seem to be part of the working atmosphere at Blizzard. So far, there have been no consequences for this behavior despite numerous complaints.
The 20 percent or so female employees often have no choice but to change companies. Women with dark skin in particular should not have any chance of advancement at Activision Blizzard and should be targeted particularly often by superiors. For example, they must justify in writing why they are taking a vacation day and list in detail how they intend to spend it. Pregnant women are also discriminated against in terms of career opportunities and rooms that have been set up for mothers of young children to breastfeed are hijacked by male employees and used for meetings.
Constant sexual assault against women
Special mention finds in the lawsuit Alex Afrasiabi: The former Senior Creative Director of World of Warcraft, who left Blizzard in 2020, is said to have attracted attention even in this climate due to unprofessional and abusive behavior. He often tried to kiss co-workers and put his arms around them and was noticed by inappropriate comments. One woman said he held her hand and invited her to his hotel room. Another says she was groped by him. Male colleagues often even had to intervene physically to remove him from female employees. Because of these frequent attacks, its premises were known internally as the "Cosby Suite". Alex Afrasiabi Source: Blizzard Blizzard's President J. Allen Brack was well aware of this behavior but took no action against Afrasiabi. Verbal warnings remained that he was drinking too much and being a little "too friendly" to the female employees. Afrasiabi did not change his behavior during his time at Activision Blizzard.
Brack is accused in many other cases of incompetence or intentional ignorance and thus of promoting these actions. A former CTO, who was not named, was observed during assaults and hired women not according to their qualifications, but according to how much they appealed to him. In the Battle.net department, women in particular were discriminated against, who in the eyes of their male colleagues are not "core gamers". They were excluded from company events and treated with derogatory slogans.
The HR department is also accused of inefficiency and unprofessionalism. Complaints from employees are not treated confidentially there either. The internal company motto "every voice matters", which can also be found in the description on the official company website, seems almost cynical against this background.
Employees committed suicide
A particularly disturbing description from the Indictment describes the case of an employee who entered into a physical relationship with her manager. She is said to have been subjected to serious assaults at work and pictures of her vagina are said to have been passed around at a company party. She committed suicide on a business trip with the manager in question. The supervisor's luggage contained lubricant and an anal plug.
Many companies in the gaming sector have a serious problem with employee abuse and discrimination. Inadequate working conditions have also been complained about frequently at Activision Blizzard. The designation of the corporate culture as "frat boy culture" brings back memories of the revelations about Ubisoft last year and, in detail, of the allegations against Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent.
Activision Blizzard statement
Activision Blizzard has already responded to the allegations in a long statement. The company accuses the agency of failing to conduct its investigation properly and of painting the wrong picture of what happened.
"The DFEH [in the lawsuit] contains distorted and, in many cases, incorrect descriptions of Blizzard's past We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout the investigation, providing them with extensive data and ample documentation. They refused to tell us what problems they encountered. They are legally required to adequately investigate and to discuss with us in good faith so that we can better understand the allegations and resolve them before litigation, but they failed. Instead, they filed premature complaints, as we will demonstrate in court.
We are disgusted by the DFEH's actions to include the tragic suicide of an employee in the lawsuit s whose death is in no way related to the fall, regardless of their grieving family. Unfortunately, while we find this behavior abhorrent and unprofessional, it is an example of how she behaved throughout the investigation. It is this irresponsible behavior by insane officials that drives so many of the best companies in the state out of California. "
The text also addresses the changes the company has made to corporate culture in recent years.
"The picture drawn by the DFEH does not reflect today's blizzard. Over the past few years and since the research began, we have made significant changes that affect corporate culture and reflect the diversity in our leadership teams. [...] Employees have to take regular anti-harassment training and have done so for several years. "
Activision Blizzard has been warned of the lack of diversity in the company in the past the publisher opposed a proposal from the AFL-CIO, a trade union association involved in the company, on the grounds that the measures addressed were "not feasible".
The entire statement can be read here.
Source: BloombergLaw, Court Document, Kotaku (1, 2)
Ubisoft reported for systemic abuse of employees
Ubisoft is again confronted with allegations of systemic sexual harassment. The company was sued in France. 0Activision Blizzard fires voice actor after sexist statements
Activision Blizzard ended all relationships with Jeff Leach, the voice of the operator Ghost from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone. 0Blizzard: Employees disappointed with wage increase
Blizzard employees are disappointed because recent wage increases are too low. 0Rocksteady: Employees comment on the harassment allegations
The Rocksteady employees made a statement about the harassment allegations that surfaced on Wednesday. var lstExcludedArticleTicker = '1376372,1374448,1376171,1371777,1355540,1356551'; Constant inappropriate contact, jokes about rape and loud descriptions of sexual experiences by the male workforce seem to be part of the working atmosphere at Blizzard. So far, there have been no consequences for this behavior despite numerous complaints.The 20 percent or so female employees often have no choice but to change companies. Women with dark skin in particular should not have any chance of advancement at Activision Blizzard and should be targeted particularly often by superiors. For example, they must justify in writing why they are taking a vacation day and list in detail how they intend to spend it. Pregnant women are also discriminated against in terms of career opportunities and rooms that have been set up for mothers of young children to breastfeed are hijacked by male employees and used for meetings.
Constant sexual assault against women
Special mention finds in the lawsuit Alex Afrasiabi: The former Senior Creative Director of World of Warcraft, who left Blizzard in 2020, is said to have attracted attention even in this climate due to unprofessional and abusive behavior. He often tried to kiss co-workers and put his arms around them and was noticed by inappropriate comments. One woman said he held her hand and invited her to his hotel room. Another says she was groped by him. Male colleagues often even had to intervene physically to remove him from female employees. Because of these frequent attacks, its premises were known internally as the "Cosby Suite". Alex Afrasiabi Source: Blizzard Blizzard's President J. Allen Brack was well aware of this behavior but took no action against Afrasiabi. Verbal warnings remained that he was drinking too much and being a little "too friendly" to the female employees. Afrasiabi did not change his behavior during his time at Activision Blizzard.Brack is accused in many other cases of incompetence or intentional ignorance and thus of promoting these actions. A former CTO, who was not named, was observed during assaults and hired women not according to their qualifications, but according to how much they appealed to him. In the Battle.net department, women in particular were discriminated against, who in the eyes of their male colleagues are not "core gamers". They were excluded from company events and treated with derogatory slogans.
The HR department is also accused of inefficiency and unprofessionalism. Complaints from employees are not treated confidentially there either. The internal company motto "every voice matters", which can also be found in the description on the official company website, seems almost cynical against this background.
Employees committed suicide
A particularly disturbing description from the Indictment describes the case of an employee who entered into a physical relationship with her manager. She is said to have been subjected to serious assaults at work and pictures of her vagina are said to have been passed around at a company party. She committed suicide on a business trip with the manager in question. The supervisor's luggage contained lubricant and an anal plug.Many companies in the gaming sector have a serious problem with employee abuse and discrimination. Inadequate working conditions have also been complained about frequently at Activision Blizzard. The designation of the corporate culture as "frat boy culture" brings back memories of the revelations about Ubisoft last year and, in detail, of the allegations against Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent.
Activision Blizzard statement
Activision Blizzard has already responded to the allegations in a long statement. The company accuses the agency of failing to conduct its investigation properly and of painting the wrong picture of what happened."The DFEH [in the lawsuit] contains distorted and, in many cases, incorrect descriptions of Blizzard's past We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout the investigation, providing them with extensive data and ample documentation. They refused to tell us what problems they encountered. They are legally required to adequately investigate and to discuss with us in good faith so that we can better understand the allegations and resolve them before litigation, but they failed. Instead, they filed premature complaints, as we will demonstrate in court.
We are disgusted by the DFEH's actions to include the tragic suicide of an employee in the lawsuit s whose death is in no way related to the fall, regardless of their grieving family. Unfortunately, while we find this behavior abhorrent and unprofessional, it is an example of how she behaved throughout the investigation. It is this irresponsible behavior by insane officials that drives so many of the best companies in the state out of California. "
The text also addresses the changes the company has made to corporate culture in recent years.
"The picture drawn by the DFEH does not reflect today's blizzard. Over the past few years and since the research began, we have made significant changes that affect corporate culture and reflect the diversity in our leadership teams. [...] Employees have to take regular anti-harassment training and have done so for several years. "
Activision Blizzard has been warned of the lack of diversity in the company in the past the publisher opposed a proposal from the AFL-CIO, a trade union association involved in the company, on the grounds that the measures addressed were "not feasible".
The entire statement can be read here.
Source: BloombergLaw, Court Document, Kotaku (1, 2)
