Activision Blizzard has been the topic of scrutiny for a number of years now, resulting from its broadly criticized “Boys’ Membership” company tradition of sleazy shenanigans. And now, late on a Friday night simply earlier than the vacation season begins in earnest, The Wall Avenue Journal stories the embattled gaming firm introduced on December 15 that it’s going to pay $50 million to settle a 2021 gender discrimination and harassment lawsuit—the identical lawsuit that seemingly prompted Microsoft’s landmark $69 billion acquisition of the Name of Obligation and Overwatch writer that was lastly greenlit after an 18-month authorized battle in October of this yr.
California’s Civil Rights Division sued Activision again in 2021, claiming firm management willfully ignored worker complaints concerning pay disparity, gender- and sexuality-based harassment, and discrimination.
Activision has repeatedly denied these expenses. Firm representatives have additionally claimed that an inner investigation by its board of administrators concluded that the allegations in opposition to the corporate had been with out advantage. When the Microsoft acquisition closed earlier this yr, longtime Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was “requested” to keep for one more two months, by the top of 2023.
Based on the Journal, which broke the story concerning the settlement, the state of California had initially estimated Activision’s legal responsibility for a far larger quantity than $50 million.
The state in 2021 estimated Activision’s legal responsibility at practically $1 billion to 2,500 staff who may need claims in opposition to the corporate, courtroom paperwork present. Activision had round 13,000 staff as of the top of 2022.
Citing nameless sources accustomed to the matter, the Journal goes on to assert that state companies had “initially sought an quantity a lot larger than the settlement Riot Video games paid earlier this yr to settle its lawsuit.” That ruling in Might 2023 touched upon related grievances referring to poisonous office tradition and resulted in a $100 million settlement for plaintiffs.
