By: Joseph Cunningham
After a “Cosby Suite,” several governmental investigations and lawsuits, employee walkouts, and lost sponsors, it seems Activision Blizzard, and the video game industry as a whole, are in for a massive change. Activision Blizzard is a massive videogame developer known for games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch. Recently, allegations of sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and union busting led to lawsuits and complaints from California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). Activision Blizzard has moved quickly to settle with the EEOC by creating an $18 million fund for aggrieved employees and organizations seeking to advance women in technology.
Viral evidence of the hostile work environment at Activision Blizzard dates back to an infamous image from 2013 of Activision Blizzard employees posing with a picture of Bill Cosby in a booze-filled hotel room internally referred to as the “Cosby Suite.” The DFEH’s complaint further alleges that Activision Blizzard fostered a “frat-boy culture” where male employees regularly sexually harassed female employees, drank at work and delegated their tasks to female employees so they could play games. Also, management allegedly discriminated against female employees in regards to compensation, assignments, promotions, terminations, and retaliation. Activision Blizzard responded by opening an internal investigation and criticizing the complaint as distorted, which prompted over 3,000 employees to criticize the response and stage a walk-out. The company then announced plans to change the culture and hired notable union-busting firm WilmerHale to oversee a rework of Human Resource policy and procedure. Simultaneously, several key department heads including the Blizzard President stepped down and employees continued to issue statements claiming that their demands were not being met.
However, the DFEH’s case has been rocky as they claim that Activision Blizzard has interfered with investigations through non-disclosure agreements, and shredding key documents, which the company denied. Additionally, DFEH claimed that Activision Blizzard’s settlement with EEOC enables the company to destroy or withhold documents DFEH needs for its investigation and thus requested a stay of the settlement which was rejected. The EEOC then counterattacked with a showing of a conflict of interest due to former EEOC employees and lead attorneys in the Activision Blizzard investigation now working at the DFEH and heading their investigation of the company. This claim could derail the DFEH’s case and open a promising defense for Activision Blizzard if the case moves forward. Activision Blizzard will need all the help it can get as a group of employees filed a complaint with the NLRB through the Communications Workers of America union regarding threats for using organization rights. NLRB prosecutors will now investigate the claims and decide on charges. Finally, the SEC has also gotten involved due to complaints from shareholders that Activision Blizzard downplayed the companies deplorable treatment of women and hid the DFEH investigation from them.
These suits represent a large shift in the videogame industry towards achieving parity for women in a male dominated industry. About twenty percent of Activision Blizzard employees are women and, before the executive shake-up, top leadership was exclusively white males. On the day of the Activision Blizzard walkout 500 current and former Ubisoft employees, another large videogame developer known for franchises like Assassins Creed, Tom Clancy, and more, expressed solidarity due to similar experiences at their company. While the Communications Workers of America called the $18 million settlement a “slap in the face to workers” it represents a reluctant and overdue step in the right direction. Outside forces are also doing their part to hold Activision Blizzard responsible as sponsors have pulled their deals from its professional gaming league, Youtubers and websites are pausing coverage of the companies games, and some popular streamers are voicing concerns and boycotting games.
It goes without saying that the horrors of workplace harassment and discrimination create incalculable damage. It is sickening to see companies that make games loved by hundreds of millions treating their own people so cruelly that it takes four governmental agencies swinging their authority to force even slight change. Hopefully, as more workers become empowered, and companies are held accountable, it will lead to a less toxic environment that is open to all. The power of video games to tell breathtaking interactive stories and bring together people from all walks of life is truly wasted when “frat boys” are made their gatekeepers.
Student Bio: Joseph Cunningham is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School. He is a staffer on the Journal of High Technology Law. Joseph received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and Sports Industry from The Ohio State University.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
