California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard
Court	Los Angeles County Superior Court
Full case name	California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard is a current lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), now the Civil Rights Department (CRD) against video game developer Activision Blizzard in July 2021. The lawsuit asserts that management of Activision Blizzard allowed and at times encouraged sexual misconduct towards female employees, that the company maintained a "frat boy" culture,^[1] and that the company's hiring and employment practices were discriminatory against women.

After Activision Blizzard dismissed the claims in the lawsuit as false, more than 2,600 of the company's 9,500 staff signed an open letter demanding the company take the allegations seriously and make changes. While Activision CEO Bobby Kotick later promised the company would internally review the allegations, employees were not satisfied by the response. Employees walked out on July 28, 2021, joined virtually by other developers and players across the industry. DFEH's lawsuit triggered a separate class action lawsuit by Activision Blizzard's shareholders at the federal level, asserting the company failed to meet its fiduciary duties under the Securities Exchange Act. A later investigative report by The Wall Street Journal published in November 2021 claimed that Kotick had known about the allegations of misconduct for years but failed to take action, leading employees to stage a second walk-off, and they and other voices in the gaming industry called for Kotick to step down.

Activision Blizzard and the CRD settled the lawsuit in December 2023, with Activision Blizzard agreeing to pay $54 million mostly associated with pay inequalities, but as stated by the CRD, the settlement is based on no findings to substantiate claims of widespread harassment within Activision Blizzard.

Coupled with allegations of misconduct and discrimination at game developers Riot Games and Ubisoft around the same time, the DFEH lawsuit is seen by analysts, academics, and media outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian and CNN as forcing the video game industry to come to terms with the #MeToo movement and consider the possibility of unionization to better protect workers.