As reported by VentureBeat, Activision Blizzard has agree to pay a total of roughly $54 million to settle a lawsuit in the state of California. The company was sued by California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) in 2021 after reports emerged with allegations of widespread and systemic sexual harassment and racial discrimination against employees, and unequal pay for women.
As per the agreement between the CRD and Activision Blizzard, the former has stated that “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations” regarding “systemic or widespread sexual harassment” at the company. Similarly, it has been unable to find evidence “that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned or tolerated a culture of systemic, harassment, retaliation or discrimination”.
In November 2021, reports also claimed that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick had been aware of aforementioned issues at the company, protected abusers, and even made a death threat against an employee. The CRD, however, has said that its investigation found no such evidence against Kotick or the company’s Board.
As per the agreement, Activision Blizzard will pay $46.75 million to women employees who received inequitable pay from 2015-2020, while $9.125 million will be paid to cover legal fees.
Activision Blizzard said in a statement: “We are gratified that we have reached an agreement with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) today, as the CRD has now announced in a press statement. We appreciate the importance of the issues addressed in this agreement and we are dedicated to fully implementing all the new obligations we have assumed as part of it. We want our employees to know that, as the agreement specifies, we are committed to ensuring fair compensation and promotion policies and practices for all our employees, and we will continue our efforts regarding inclusion of qualified candidates from underrepresented communities in outreach, recruitment, and retention.
“We are also gratified that the CRD has agreed to file an amended complaint that entirely withdraws its 2021 claims alleging widespread and systemic workplace harassment at Activision Blizzard. As the CRD acknowledged explicitly in the agreement, ‘CRD is filing along with a Proposed Consent Decree a Second Amended Complaint that withdraws, among other allegations and causes of action, the Fifth Cause of Action – “Employment Discrimination – Because of Sex – Harassment.’ As the CRD also expressly acknowledged in the agreement, ‘no court or independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard.’ In addition, the CRD has acknowledged that no court or independent investigation substantiated any allegations that ‘Activision Blizzard’s Board of Directors, including its Chief Executive Officer, Robert Kotick, acted improperly with regard to the handling of any instances of workplace misconduct.’”
Activision Blizzard’s $69 billion acquisition by Microsoft was completed in October.
