California Files Lawsuit Against Activision Blizzard, Alleging Sexual Harrassment, Unequal Pay And '

System

California Files Lawsuit Against Activision Blizzard, Alleging Sexual Harrassment, Unequal Pay And 'Frat Boy' Culture | MMORPG.com

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the California Department of Fair Employment And Housing is alleging Activision Blizzard has fostered a "frat boy" culture which saw female employees contending with unequal pay, sexual harrassment and more. This filing comes after a two-year long investigation, according to Bloomberg Law.

Read the full story here

skeaser

A $70B corporation doesn't treat its people well? I'm shocked!

Theocritus

Might explain why WoW has gone downhill so much the past couple of years......

mcrippins

Regardless on if the accusations are true, this hurts Blizzard. Unfortunate in any case.

Ungood

Does anyone really believe that PR piece by Blizzard?

I mean, I don't. I think they are trying to use bully tactics, especially that line about driving companies out of CA. Sounds like whoever wrote that has been spending too much time e-peen waving with the nerd ragers, as it reeks of typical butthurt gamer's response to getting punished, "I'm not an asshole, You're an asshole, and I'm gonna take my business elsewhere"

Kyleran

Pretty tame responses here so far, over on MOP the posters are outraged, outraged I tell you.

It is a pretty foul situation for the employees involved and it is amazing how prevalent it is in the gaming industry.

I've worked in numerous companies over the years and never have witnessed anything nearly as extreme as some of these gaming lawsuits have outlined.

Wizardry

There is soooo much to decipher there i just can't do it,would take 15 paragraphs.

Instead i will just have to do it in a vague manner,something i don't like doing but it is what it is.
IMO BOTH sides are acting improperly and making false claims and well bending the truth.How do i know i am not in those offices,it is no different than anywhere else in the world.I can actually read between the lines very easily and can form an opinion on how i beleive thigns are really going down.
I also believe that this is TARGETING for money reasons,i mean they are going after the two most lucrative long term businesses within Blizzard.You see you can't prove a long term point if the game has not been around long term,you also can't associate a one time happening with long term situations if the games are again not around long term.

So this government office is going after the two targets it feels it has the best chance of making an easy agreement to pad their coffers.

There is however two really bad outcomes from BS like this,one Blizzard is spending loads of money in the legal departments instead of the games and the government is wasting tax payers money because i do not beleive for one minute they care about anything abotu the female employees and are only after money.Why do i think this,well because several of those complaints could have just as easily been targeted by women at men but it just looks better in court if you claim the female has been scrutinized and they will use the pay scale to support their likely mostly bogus claims.

I also ASSUME by Blizzard's statement that the government is going to use a suicide case as an argument on behalf of the family to again get some money out of it.I do NOT think the INTENT is just,i feel this is all about money....like it usually is.

Dattelis

Unfortunately, these allegations were rumored for at least a decade against them. My guess is that for many people working there, it was like a dream job for them to work for such a highly regarded company (at one point). Now that they have somewhat lost their shine in the public eye (so many employees leaving for other companies or to start their own and now the front runner, WoW, taking such a public hit to population), people might feel more comfortable coming out against them. As the old saying goes though, "No King rules forever."

NorseGod

You mean the employees of a company that lectures everyone about social issues/behavior were projecting this whole time? Buhahahahahahahahha

Asm0deus

Sounds like a a load of BS excuses on Blizzards part to me. Look at just two responses from them, look at the underlined italicized parts. :

"the picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today"

...so they admit it was like that yesterday....or previously

"Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we’ve made significant changes to address company culture"

again they admit they had to change some stuff and it took several years due to a toxic culture

"Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint"

They claim this has been rushed but themsleves admit they have been investigated over the past several years...dunno but that doesn't seem rushed to me!
Have to say I don't believe a damned word coming out of blizzard and believe the allegations are more than likely quite accurate once past the BS corporate face saving shit.

ashiru_1978

mcrippins said:

Regardless on if the accusations are true, this hurts Blizzard. Unfortunate in any case.

There is no longer "Blizzard", only Activision, or if you want to be precise - Activision B.

ashiru_1978

tzervo said:

Kyleran said:

Pretty tame responses here so far, over on MOP the posters are outraged, outraged I tell you.

It is a pretty foul situation for the employees involved and it is amazing how prevalent it is in the gaming industry.

I've worked in numerous companies over the years and never have witnessed anything nearly as extreme as some of these gaming lawsuits have outlined.

The accusations are very serious and if true should be acted on.

The commenters over MOP are such sad drama queens, always have been. Acting like they have the moral high ground while trying to rationalize going to private servers (best not lose our convenience either and getting the game for free is nice too eh?).

MOP, along with their owners believe are some righteous, self-proclaimed fighters of justice, but private servers are not bad, I have played them for years and I'm thankful they exist. Paying to play the joke that is Activision's WoW is insanity.

NorseGod

remnar said:

This sounds like typical denial from a corporation, and exaggeration from gold diggers. The judge will most likely throw it out on the case of "he said/she said". Even if there is video evidence, it would be thrown out because such evidence could be easily faked with actors in a office setting, unless a 3rd party investigator legally set up cameras, with all proper documentation, without employees knowing about it.

Except there won't be any video or recording of any of this stuff being done or said. Everyone has a video camera in their pocket, yet nothing.

That's ok, I want them to taste (choke on) their own medicine, frivolous or not. Because being fair and reasonable is for suckers these days. Your side winning at all cost is all that matters. 

The irony is delicious. Can't wait for them to Tweet some SJW projections. lol

BizkitNL

Can we stop calling this company Blizzard? It's hasn't been Blizzard for years now.

Mackaveli44

Ungood said:

Does anyone really believe that PR piece by Blizzard?



I mean, I don't. I think they are trying to use bully tactics, especially that line about driving companies out of CA. Sounds like whoever wrote that has been spending too much time e-peen waving with the nerd ragers, as it reeks of typical butthurt gamer's response to getting punished, "I'm not an asshole, You're an asshole, and I'm gonna take my business elsewhere"

Regardless of how you feel or see things relating to their response, that bit about businesses being driven out of California is 100% true. I know from first hand experience that quite a few of my personal friends who own businesses have left California.

Theres a reason one of the biggest, most powerful companies in Califoria(McDonald Dougless AKA Boeing) left California. Tesla is leaving Califoria, family businesses are leaving California in droves. Sadly the state is ran by shmucks who don't know their asshole from a hole in the ground.

goozmania

Lifelong Californian here, and have watched the total degradation and corruption of the state government. I would not trust a CA AG or SoS investigation over hearsay from an 8 year old on the playground.

But also, to hell with woke Blizzard.

Scot

Kyleran said:

Pretty tame responses here so far, over on MOP the posters are outraged, outraged I tell you.

It is a pretty foul situation for the employees involved and it is amazing how prevalent it is in the gaming industry.

I've worked in numerous companies over the years and never have witnessed anything nearly as extreme as some of these gaming lawsuits have outlined.

The thing is Kyleran, can we believe it? The majority of our working lives were in times when supposedly this sort of irresponsible behaviour was far wider spread, yet did anyone here see anything like this in the eighties, nineties etc? If things were so bad back then, how can there be corporate sanctioned behaviour like this today when elsewhere people get banned from work cafeterias and libraries because they did not go on a Anti Bullying course?

So that's why I have trouble believing these claims though obviously the site was right to report this. I would also note, presumably every women has resigned from this intolerably atmosphere and is part of the court case? Because if not you have to ask why not? My guess is this is not as widespread as claimants would have us believe but you create more social media drama and therefore a bigger settlement if you say it is. This is far more likely to be down to specific individuals rather than corporate culture, though that still means the women involved deserve a fair settlement for what has happened.

Kyleran

Scot said:

Kyleran said:

Pretty tame responses here so far, over on MOP the posters are outraged, outraged I tell you.

It is a pretty foul situation for the employees involved and it is amazing how prevalent it is in the gaming industry.

I've worked in numerous companies over the years and never have witnessed anything nearly as extreme as some of these gaming lawsuits have outlined.

The thing is Kyleran, can we believe it? The majority of our working lives were in times when supposedly this sort of irresponsible behaviour was far wider spread, yet did anyone here see anything like this in the eighties, nineties etc? If things were so bad back then, how can there be corporate sanctioned behaviour like this today when elsewhere people get banned from work cafeterias and libraries because they did not go on a Anti Bullying course?

So that's why I have trouble believing these claims though obviously the site was right to report this. I would also note, presumably every women has resigned from this intolerably atmosphere and is part of the court case? Because if not you have to ask why not? My guess is this is not as widespread as claimants would have us believe but you create more social media drama and therefore a bigger settlement if you say it is. This is far more likely to be down to specific individuals rather than corporate culture, though that still means the women involved deserve a fair settlement for what has happened.

I'm sure some claims are true, even the more onerous ones but of a far more limited frequency than claimed.

One I do think was probably true is women likely were underpaid as compared to their male peers and given less opportunities for career growth or leadership.

Especially in technology, I've easily witnessed this phenomenon for most of my career, and personally know several women who experienced it.

Never was a flagrant thing, never saw an obvious discussion about it at a management level, seems like more of an unconscious bias thing which perhaps the folks doing it weren't really aware of.

Things are much better the last 5 years or so, at least with my current employer who has intentionally been trying to "fix" this inequity for an even longer period.

It's not as easy as one might think as some of the reasons are systemic, going all the way back to women's education, training, interest, family responsibilities and more.

Fact is, if we post a job req for programmers with the specific skills and job reqs (in the group) I'm part of at least 75% of the applicants are males... originally from India who don't live in our city and have to be incentived to relocate. 

Probably explains why I sat in a team meeting a few years back and realized I was the only white male in the room, was a sobering experience. 

Not all groups in the firm are like this of course, but still I can believe some of the claims against AB could be true.

zyzolol

In the office, women are subjected to “cube crawls” in which male employees drink copious [amounts] of alcohol as they “crawl” their way through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees. Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies and joke about rape.

Female employees are subjected to constant sexual harassment, including having to continually fend off unwanted sexual comments and advances by their male co-workers and supervisors and being groped at the “cube crawls” and other company events. High-ranking executives and creators engaged in blatant sexual harassment without repercussions.

In a particularly tragic example, a female employee committed suicide during a business trip with a male supervisor who had brought butt plugs and lubricant with him on the trip, before her death, male co-workers were alleged to be passing around a picture of the deceased's vagina.

Kyleran

zyzolol said:

In the office, women are subjected to “cube crawls” in which male employees drink copious [amounts] of alcohol as they “crawl” their way through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees. Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies and joke about rape.

Female employees are subjected to constant sexual harassment, including having to continually fend off unwanted sexual comments and advances by their male co-workers and supervisors and being groped at the “cube crawls” and other company events. High-ranking executives and creators engaged in blatant sexual harassment without repercussions.

In a particularly tragic example, a female employee committed suicide during a business trip with a male supervisor who had brought butt plugs and lubricant with him on the trip, before her death, male co-workers were alleged to be passing around a picture of the deceased's vagina.

All truely horrific stories if they actually occurred but thankfully I never witnessed anything like that in my 40+ year career or there would have been some folks nursing some bruises after I throttled them.

Ungood

Scot said:

So that's why I have trouble believing these claims though obviously the site was right to report this. I would also note, presumably every women has resigned from this intolerably atmosphere and is part of the court case? Because if not you have to ask why not? My guess is this is not as widespread as claimants would have us believe but you create more social media drama and therefore a bigger settlement if you say it is. This is far more likely to be down to specific individuals rather than corporate culture, though that still means the women involved deserve a fair settlement for what has happened.

This is like asking why children didn't just quit from the textile mills, or why miners didn't just quit when they were given unsafe and inhumane conditions to live and work in.

Long and short answer, they need money, this is a job, and they will put up with the bullshit for the pay check.

To get that in a more simple easy to process way, this is also why a Cashier does not punch every Karen they meet in the mouth the second they start into a verbal barrage, because they need the money from the job.

Scot

Ungood said:

Scot said:

So that's why I have trouble believing these claims though obviously the site was right to report this. I would also note, presumably every women has resigned from this intolerably atmosphere and is part of the court case? Because if not you have to ask why not? My guess is this is not as widespread as claimants would have us believe but you create more social media drama and therefore a bigger settlement if you say it is. This is far more likely to be down to specific individuals rather than corporate culture, though that still means the women involved deserve a fair settlement for what has happened.

This is like asking why children didn't just quit from the textile mills, or why miners didn't just quit when they were given unsafe and inhumane conditions to live and work in.

Long and short answer, they need money, this is a job, and they will put up with the bullshit for the pay check.

To get that in a more simple easy to process way, this is also why a Cashier does not punch every Karen they meet in the mouth the second they start into a verbal barrage, because they need the money from the job.

I really don't think you can compare the need for a pay check today in America to that faced by children in the 19th century. But yes, that is a factor, what I find hard to believe is while putting up with it they were not looking for a new job, which in the digital age is extremely easy. Not always easy to get one, but if it was that bad you would keep looking and leave asap. Indeed this may well have happened, if they were only there for months for example, but if we start hearing about years of abuse then there is a question mark.

Horusra

I want to see proof.  These types of lawsuits now days are starting to smell like ambulance chaser lawsuits.

foxgirl

I heard from a friend that this all started to come out because one of the female employees killed herself because the chads were sharing nudes of her and harrassing her about it. And that the president of Blizz or the head guy of the place would only hire women if they were hot. You know like it's still the 1950's.

Neanderthal

I don't know what happened or what didn't happen but I tend to be more and more skeptical of allegations like this these days.  The reason is that being offended by every little thing has become fashionable. 

  Actually, it's more than fashionable, it's like people feel like they're doing something heroic if they become outraged at anything which they might possibly be able to vaguely link to a slightly insensitive idea.  Even if requires extreme leaps and contortions of logic.

So for me there is a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" element to this stuff now.  Of course that reference is probably offensive because assuming it was a boy is sexist and it gives a negative impression of wolves which I'm sure would offend someone for some reason.

Gorwe

Asm0deus said:

Sounds like a a load of BS excuses on Blizzards part to me. Look at just two responses from them, look at the underlined italicized parts. :

"the picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today"

...so they admit it was like that yesterday....or previously

"Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we’ve made significant changes to address company culture"

again they admit they had to change some stuff and it took several years due to a toxic culture

"Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint"

They claim this has been rushed but themsleves admit they have been investigated over the past several years...dunno but that doesn't seem rushed to me!
Have to say I don't believe a damned word coming out of blizzard and believe the allegations are more than likely quite accurate once past the BS corporate face saving shit.

Yes, from the way they worded their response, it'd seem that most of these charges were true. That hasn't escaped my notice.