Activision Blizzard Action: COD-Publisher is accused of sexual discrimination

Update of 4 August 2021: Blizzard boss J. Allen Brack has left the company now. In a statement of the publisher, it is said that Brack "pursue new perspectives". The lawsuit was not mentioned, so it remains unclear whether Brack's departure is a direct consequence on the allegations.

A successor for Brack will not give it, instead, Blizzard in the future sets a dual tip from Jen Oeal and Mike Ybarra.

Our collegal * inside of Gamestar and Meinmmo have discussed and classified the complete case in a video:

Original message: The state authority "California Department of Fair Employment and Housing" has sued the WoW maker and COD-Publisher Activision Blizzard for sexual discrimination of employees. The subject of the lawsuit are continuous sexual harassment as well as unequal pay, a lack of equal opportunities and retaliatory measures against women who resist. The preceding is a two-year investigation. Here you will learn what exactly it works.

That's behind the allegations

It's about it: The "California Department of Fair Employment and Housing" is an authority of the Capital of California to protect citizens from discrimination at work. After a two-year investigation, the civil rights authority now complains against the Publisher Activision Blizzard, raises heavy allegations and draws a shocking picture.

This is accused of Activision Blizzard: In an excerpt from the application that the Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier has posted on Twitter, it is explained that Activision Blizzard "a ubiquitous working culture as in a student compound" convey. What is meant by the fact that women are continuously exposed to sexual harassment, uneven paid and get much worse career opportunities than their male colleagues. In addition, they would have to be afraid of retaliatory measures if they are going to fight.

Highest management level white and male: The application is listed that the women's quota at the staff is just 20 percent, which does not fit the diversity of the playing pastries. In addition, the most important positions in the company - now and has always been occupied by white men.

Concrete examples

Drinking games and misconduct during working hours: How to imagine the working atmosphere, it becomes clear if you are considered in the application - examples. In the office, women were exposed to so-called "Cube Crawls": Male employed tons of alcohol had drunk. Meanwhile, they were pulled through various work cabins in the office and would have behaved against inappropriate women. Like Bloomberglaw.com, it was open to jokes about rape.

Favor of men Despite lower qualifications: The application also leads to a case where a highly qualified woman was used on a position not corresponding to its qualifications. An equal payment was denied her and also during the carriage she was passed. The application declares that in other cases, it was given a preference for lower qualified, but with the superiors friendly men.

Suicide at a business trip: The application also refers to the suicide of an employee during a business trip with its male supervisor. As Bloomberglaw.com reports, it should have previously been exposed to massive sexual harassment. For example, nude photos of her should have made the round.

What does Activision Blizzard does?

Trust problem with the Human Resources Department: Furthermore, the application is listed that women in the company have little chance of defending themselves. The Publisher failed to remedy complaints. Instead, the HR department has treated these carelessly, negative and not confidentially. Consequence were retaliation against women.

The publisher reacts to the allegations: The magazine Kotaku cites an opinion of the publisher. It says one thing on the one hand, you take the allegations seriously and will examine them, but the behavior of the applicant authority is simultaneously referred to as a shameful and unprofessional. It is the talk of "irresponsible state bureauc rates". The description that the authority of Blizzard's past show is wrong or distorted in many cases.

What do you think of the allegations against the Publisher?